#and then Adrien's just like oh no Alya it's cool I dig Chat Noir too and understand

[bugged13it]

Okay, season 5 left us with A TON of complicated things still left to work through, but I'ma shove all that drama to the side to propose the possibilities.

I present to you half-reveal Adrinette-dating, where Marinette finds out Adrien is Chat Noir, and he knows that she found out. For reasons, she doesn't tell him she's Ladybug cause they're already in loooooooove~ Just imagine! Super-aggressive-protective-of-Marinette-Chat Noir during akuma attacks, relentles superhero/civilian flirting, moonlit Eiffel tower dates cause Chat can bring her there when no one else is around. Heck, even Adrien 'introducing' her to Plagg and getting to hang out with Marinette, then mercilessly teasing them both for being absolute dorks. It's basically Marichat all over again but on CRACK and I am HERE FOR IT.

[miraculouscontent]

“Sentibubbler” summary? “Sentibubbler” salt?

Why not both at the same time?

Something a little experimental, though also somewhat reminiscent of some of my past videos. Calling it “summasalt” for now, based on the word “somersault” because this episode was an exercise of my patience.

It’s basically just me going through the episode with my usual episode summary, but salting along the way instead of making you guys read a wall of text without any images or clips or me making snarky comments.

(By the way, yes, I did in fact have caffeine before recording.)

script below for anyone who wants/needs it:

"Sentibubbler" begins with Marinette having food with the Cesaires and I already know this isn't real because Marinette is actually getting to interact with her best friend's family. That's only happened, like--when, two episodes of Season 2? [”Sapotis” and “Anansi”]

Marinette sees Trixx and points out how they're supposed to be a secret, and Alya asks why while calling Marinette "Ladybug." Marinette plays dumb but is told by Nino that everyone already knows her secret. Chloe is also there, chiding Marinette for her identity rule - it's not Marinette's rule but after "Reflekdoll" I've just gotten used to Marinette being blamed for things she didn't do - and Marinette goes to question Chloe's apperance when there's a knock on the balcony door. Alya invites Shadow Moth in and--[Shadow Moth has to duck to come inside]--huh, I thought Sole Crusher was seven episodes ago.

Anyway, now obviously, Marinette is just being ridiculous and overemotional as usual, because why would Marinette ever think that Alya would reveal any information to--["Feast"]--oh yeah, that's right.

Tikki doesn't transform Marinette and says that Marinette shouldn't have trusted Alya with her secret. Enter Chat Blanc, who says that they can be together now without any secrets. Not really sure what this episode is aiming for with the mixed message of "your identity rule sucks" but also "your fault for trusting someone instead of having a mental breakdown," but a’ight. Trixx also gets another dig in on Marinette for giving Alya the fox miraculous.

Marinette wakes up from her nightmare and panics, but Tikki reassures her that Alya is loyal. [”Chameleon”] Mm. Also, that kind of support might've been nice from Tikki literal seasons ago when Marinette could've used a confidant.

Wayzz - I swear, they've had eyelashes more often than not in this season - points out that Trixx is mischievous and Xuppu talks about Trixx being the cause of the Loch Ness monster rumors, which worries Marinette further. Marinette runs out in her pajamas and I can already predict that neither Tom nor Sabine are going to check on her later or care.

Marinette finds the Cesaires looking for something, their words vague enough for Marinette to think that they're talking about Trixx. Alya brushes Marinette off and tells her to help with looking instead of lecturing her.

Marlena makes a comment that reminds Marinette of her nightmare, only increasing Marinette's stress. A tarantula crawls up a ladle and Marinette freaks out when she sees it, which Marlena has a laugh at because Marinette's anxiety, fear, and panic is hilarious, guys!

This is my laughing face. [not a laughing face]

Nino exits, having been too afraid of the spider to leave the room, so Nora compares Marinette to him. Nino tries to play it cool, then changes the subject to point out Marinette's pajamas. Alya wonders aloud why Marinette showed up and Marinette tries to act casual, but Alya sees through it and states that she doesn't usually lose things when someone lends them to her.

I presume the exception is Marinette's trust. OH-HOOOOHHH, we'll get there.

Nora takes a jab at Alya for losing the spider and Marinette drags Alya away to talk. Nino tries to join but Alya states that it's between her and Marinette, which makes Nino sad.

Nino, does the phrase "guys' time" ring a bell by any chance?

Marinette is explaining her nightmare and is simply told to calm down by Alya, though Marinette is briefly startled by a phone ringing. Marinette puts together what she knows that Shadow Moth knows, including that Alya is Rena Rouge, adding on that Shadow Moth could steal the fox necklace if he figured out that Alya has it permanently. Alya reassures her that no one will ever know and Marinette states that this must include Chat Noir. Alya agrees and brings attention to the fanny pack around her waist, which Trixx has been hiding in, and Marinette has Trixx promise not to show up at the dining table like in her nightmare. Tikki tells Marinette that everything will be fine and Marinette admits that it was silly of her to worry, which it was! ...If you ignore all the anxiety, mental scarring, and constant pressure to be perfect or risk Paris lighting itself on fire, much like I presume they accidentally did with their original script for this episode.

Alya tells Marinette to trust her and also herself - I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Alya, thank you - then Alya loses her temper at the phone continuing to ring. She leaves to find an empty living room, then answers the phone only to hear Shadow Moth on the other line. Alya turns upon hearing Marinette scream to see that Marinette has been trapped in a bubble. Cue the reveal/return of the Bubbler, who is definitely Nino akumatized and not--like--a sentimonster, because the episode didn't spoil it at all with the title of Sentibub--

show, this is freaking embarrassing. Why even bother akumatizing someone when you can mold a sentimonster with the exact power you want?

At least they reveal it quickly, though that also means I have to live with the knowledge that Shadow Moth wINKED AT ALYA, NO.

Anyway, Shadow Moth tells Alya that he wants her to betray Ladybug. Marinette, meanwhile, is panicking over being unable to transform while in public, whereas Tikki remains calm and reassures her that Alya will figure something out and it's why Marinette gave Alya the fox miraculous in the first place.

Weird, I thought it was for the show to continuously validate Alya as a worthy choice for a confidant despite repeatedly covering up her sINS and so the show can push for more anxiety on Marinette's part while simultaneously not having to make a new hero model for Alya, which they would have to do if the realistic decision had been made to give Alya a different miraculous due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity as Rena Rouge.

Marinette texts Alya to inform her that the Bubbler is a sentimonster and so Rena can tell Chat not to use Cataclysm on him or the bubbles will burst due to the sentimonster's lack of control.

Hate to burst the show's bubble but Alya could literally see Nino up in the sky and they could see her; the bubbles are in viewing range. Did this even go through a quality check?

Alya goes to look at Marinette's text, but the phone is bubbled away by Sentibubbler. Marinette sees the phone floating by and panics, only to be reassured again to trust Alya and at this point I vaguely wondered if I was watching this episode on repeat. Tikki also adds that Alya has never let her down - [”Ladybug”] MMMM - and Marinette agrees, also certain that Chat Noir will show up soon.

Oh yeah, he exists. Oh no.

Cut to the Agreste mansion where Adrien is watching the news - dude, how is there never anything better on when you need to be told that there's an akuma? here, look, I'll show you [”Silencer” Lukabug clip] there, much better, see? - and it's pointed out that the bubbles are identical to the ones Bubbler had, yet Nino is in one of the bubbles. Adrien readies himself while Plagg is - for once - okay with leaving since his cheese isn't "edible" yet.

I feel like he should be a little more concerned about Marinette being in a bubble.

Meanwhile, Shadow Moth is explaining to Alya that Ladybug will come to give her the fox miraculous due to the bubbled people in the sky - plenty of other choices that aren't within breathing range of the obvious danger zone, but a'ight - and SentiBubbler will catch Ladybug. Alya brings up Chat Noir saving her but Shadow Moth states that she'll create an illusion of Ladybug and Rena to lure Chat Noir, who won't see Sentibubbler coming, at which point Rena will hand Shadow Moth her miraculous. He adds that her loved ones will only be returned once all three miraculouses are in his possession, though if she tries to warn the heroes then Sentibubbler will send the bubbles into space, too far for any hero to save them.

[clip of space power-ups] Hm.

Also, I would've just let her keep the miraculous as an extra bribe since he doesn't need the fox and she wouldn't have time to recharge anyway - at least to his knowledge - but that's just me.

Marinette is relieved that Alya still hasn't been captured--TIKKI, I KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN PARROTING THIS ALL EPISODE, I KNOW--but Marinette changes her tune when she sees Alya blindly calling out for Ladybug's help, unaware that Alya is buying time. Marinette laments the idea of transforming there and having using the rabbit to go back in time to reverse, as that's never a good thing (seconded), but gets the idea for Tikki to take her miraculous to someone else. Tikki rejects the idea, as the earrings won't go through the bubble, and Marinette realizes that Chat Noir is their only hope.

I mean, it was nice knowing them. Sure is interesting how Marinette has only been getting herself into these situations where she requires saving when the show needed to present Alya as a valid choice for a confidant.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir is leaving a message for Ladybug about the bubbles in the sky, saying that he'll wait for her; I already see where this is going and I don't like it.

Alya mutters to Trixx about how they need a plan to release Marinette. Through Alya Vision, we're shown Sentibubbler, a bowl of fruit, and the bathroom door. Alya tells Sentibubbler that she needs to go to the bathroom and - wow, we're really doing this, aren't we? - which Shadow Moth rejects. Shadow Moth is also on top of a building holding a coffee cup which honestly makes about as much sense as the rest of the episode, so whatever. Alya claims that she can't wait and that it'll be awkward for Ladybug to find her like that, which gets Shadow Moth to relent but also remind her of what's at stake if she tries anything. Alya states that she can't do anything without a miraculous anyway, then purposefully falls onto the table, concealing her long enough for her to transform and allowing an illusion of herself to go to the bathroom while she escapes. She detransforms in the twins' room and feeds Trixx with some grapes that she'd picked up.

Alya explains her plan to trick Shadow Moth and Sentibubbler since they don't know that she has a miraculous, though she also has to make sure that Chat won't ruin things. Rena then proceeds to call Chat Noir and claim that Ladybug wanted her to call him with her plan, but adds that it's a two-person plan and Chat himself isn't needed, so he needs to wait for further instructions. Chat demands that Ladybug call him to tell him herself, but Rena insists that she can't, as Ladybug is very busy. She warns him not to use Cataclysm if he sees the Bubbler, as he's a sentimonster, then promises to talk to him later before hanging up.

She uses Mirage again, making the Alya illusion reappear as well as creating a Ladybug. Chat Noir, infuriated at being left out, destroys part of a building with his baton. He then dismisses the action because Miraculous Ladybug will fix it.

Spoiler alert, it will, which is a very fascinating detail! I mean, I can't imagine another situation where a hero did something while there was an akuma going around and Miraculous Ladybug decided to help 'em out, but it just goes to show what happens when you're the writers' pet. Just look a little pitiful and they'll give you all the sympathy in the world.

By the way, didn't expect them to actually confirm my theory that Chat Noir does Chat Noir things because he knows that Miraculous Ladybug will fix it anyway, essentially allowing him to earn brownie points from Ladybug via sacrificing himself regardless of how it affects her mentally, yet here we are and I don't know whether to be sad, angry, disappointed, or a mixture of all three.

Chat Noir sees the Ladybug illusion jumping off and gives chase, refuses to stay where he is. Marinette, seeing that Rena Rouge's illusions are active, panics at the sight of Chat Noir, as the illusion will vanish if Chat touches it.

I like to imagine the immediate concern is the idea that Chat Noir will try to take Ladybug's hand while trying to flirt.

Anyway, Marinette flails inside the bubble in an attempt to reach Chat Noir, while illusion Alya and SentiBubbler get into position. Chat Noir watches what he perceives as Ladybug heading into the Cesaire house with Alya, but Marinette gets to him in order to tell him not to go anywhere. Chat complains about everyone telling him to stay put, but Marinette explains Rena's plan to him. Chat is skeptical of how she knows that, to which Marinette insists that she saw it from where she was. Chat Noir relents with a sigh and stays where he is.

SentiBubbler watches as the illusion of Alya and Ladybug talk to each other, Rena making it look like Ladybug is piecing together what happened and refusing to give Alya a miraculous ever again due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity. She claims that she'll find another holder and give them an even more powerful miraculous, which interests Shadow Moth and gets him to follow after the Ladybug illusion. Once Sentibubbler leaves as well, Chat sees this as his chance to stop the sentimonster, as the Ladybug illusion will vanish if it's touched. Marinette strokes his ego for the token love square moment of the episode, and Chat Noir fights SentiBubbler while Shadow Moth goes after the Ladybug illusion.

I'm noticing a real lack of tension in this episode. Once Alya has her plan, it's kind of a clean sweep from start to finish with no interference or unexpected roadblocks in the way. Even Shadow Moth following the Ladybug illusion goes fine, with Shadow Moth even punching a building thinking that Ladybug actually got away from him.

Dude, it's fine, Miraculous Ladybug will fix it, just put on your best sad face. Maybe Chat Noir gets it from you actually, is treatment from the writers a hereditary thing?

Sentibubbler and Chat Noir are still fighting. Shadow Moth shows up and Marinette tries to warn Chat, but Chat gets caught in a bubble and Marinette apologizes; she doesn't have anything to apologize for but after "Reflekdoll" I--wait I already did this.

Chat Noir uses Cataclysm to escape, only to get caught in another bubble. I'd just like to throw out there that this guy's a hero three seasons going and the love interest for the main character, yet his role in the episode has amounted to complaining about the authority of a hero Ladybug chose, throwing a property-destroying tantrum over being excluded, and wasting his power without a single thought which just got him captured again.

Chat, does the name "Syren" ring any bells by any chance? I'm just sayin', you could always quit. In fact, wasn't it you literally one episode ago saying that you understood if Ladybug couldn't always come get you? Then, after seeing the jump from "Glaciator" to "Frozer," I'm about as shocked as rubber.

Back with the competent one, Alya notes to Trixx that Rena Rouge can no longer be seen by Shadow Moth or else the jig is up. She transforms and texts Marinette to be ready, creating an illusion of Marinette that simultaneously hides the real version, allowing her to transform into Ladybug.

Chat Noir's bubble gets dragged down and Shadow Moth gets SentiBubbler to mute Chat Noir's bubble.

[clip from “Silencer” where Ladybug takes amusement in Chat being muted]

Ladybug uses Lucky Charm and receives a pot, her Lucky Vision spotting Shadow Moth's coffee cup, then SentiBubbler, then the tarantula trapped in a bubble. Ladybug deduces that the cup is the sentimonster's object, then pulls the horse miraculous out of her yoyo and unifies it with the ladybug--oh.

Oh my.

You know, it's times like this where I'm reminded that the show knows nothing about fashion... or girls... or good writing actually--there's just a lot of stuff they don't know.

Sentibubbler does a countdown, then starts sending the civilian bubbles up into the sky. Chat Noir is about to de-transform while PegaBug notices of Shadow Moth's two miraculous, up for grabbin'. She notes that she won't be able to catch everyone, so she forms a portal behind Shadow Moth and goes for the coffee cup first, thus putting her in control of SentiBubbler, who happily brings the bubbles back down at her command.

Shadow Moth erases SentiBubbler from existence though, causing everyone to fall, but Chat and PegaBug manage to catch them. PegaBug de-transforms and presents the Cesaires with the tarantula, which had been trapped inside the lucky charm. Ladybug and Chat Noir watch Shadow Moth escape and Ladybug laments that it could've been the end of Shadow Moth once and for all because it's not a Miraculous episode without Marinette being at fault or feeling guilty in some way! Chat Noir reassures her [*by “reassure,” I mean he might as well have said, “Well, you saved ME, so you did great!”] - wow, that's two token love square moments for the price of one episode, don't I feel spoiled - and Ladybug leaves to retrieve the tarantula's tank.

Rena Rouge is waiting for her and they hug, with Rena repeating that she doesn't lose something that someone gives her. Ladybug states that she never should've doubted the idea of giving Alya a miraculous and Imma just give you guys a counter real quick. [counter that shows that Tikki has complimented Alya four times, Alya has complimented herself/told Marinette to trust her thrice, and Marinette has said that she was wrong thrice]. Miraculous Ladybug is cast and everything returns to normal, with Alya explaining what she did and Marinette being relieved that Shadow Moth won't be going after her anymore. Alya confidently asks if she was smart and Marinette is happy to praise her, confirming it and stating that Alya is a real superhero and honestly? If the narrative wanted to marry Alya this badly, they should've just used some of the budget to buy a ring instead of projecting onto the other characters.

Then again, the apparent budget can't even afford a new hero model nor new akuma to a very noticeable degree, so I guess they're taking what they can get.

Alya praises Marinette as well for her work as PegaBug and they do a fistbump, thus ending the episode. There's also this ever-so-lovely post-episode scene with Gabriel and Nathalie where Gabriel laments the fact that Ladybug never makes mistakes which--I... has he even watched the series at all? Gabe, babe, Babriel Agreste, it's literally part of the show's formula that Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and she felt guilty like a minute ago over not yoinking your miraculouses when she had the chance, where have you been?

But, yeah, anyway, the episode.

Needless to say, not a fan. Like I said, the show seems so intent on immediately validating the choices they make with Alya in order to make her look like a better character. "Gang of Secrets" basically replaced her with someone different at the end of the episode, and the episode immediately afterwards in chronological order, "Mr. Pigeon 72," did everything it could to push Marinette out of her guardian position long enough for Alya to figure out the grimoire despite having zero onscreen experience with it, the episode even trapping Ladybug in a situation that forced Rena Rouge to come into play to validate that decision as well.

And now we have "SentiBubbler" here following immediately after "Optigami," desperate to reassure its audience that Alya is cool, smart, truthworthy, and that not needing to make a new model--sorry, I mean Alya continuing to have the fox--was a good decision. All the while, they continue pushing Alya's flaws under the rug [Note that it’s not even considered that Alya is even remotely at fault for Shadow Moth going after her specifically after her stunt in “Optigami” when no one else but Ladybug and Chat have ever given out a miraculous], hiding them instead of Alya actually acknowledging them, the only reason she did so in "Optigami" being the same as in "Gang of Secrets"; to make her look good while Marinette makes a big decision in their relationship.

The episode tries so hard to drill in this idea that Alya is a good friend who can be trusted, and I'm just not here for how much they try to hammer it in. Marinette's very real anxiety over Shadow Moth's power and ability to plan things is played off as her being silly instead of something to be concerned about, and instead of giving her a hug and trying to help her calm down - [clip from “Heart Hunter” of Luka hugging Marinette] I miss Luka - she's just told to trust and believe and hAVE fAiTh in Alya.

Shadow Moth is an adult; he has abilities that the teenage heroes don't. I'm not even saying that Marinette isn't overreacting [Basically, her concern about Shadow Moth is valid, especially after “Optigami” where her identity was almost found out], but she has anxiety and some obvious trauma over "Chat Blanc." I was already upset that Alya got a free pass to Marinette's identity, but the constant stressing over how much Marinette should trust her just doesn't affect me when I know Alya and I know the kind of stuff she's done that the show blatantly ignored in favor of pushing for her.

But okay, show, I'll give Alya the benefit of the doubt that she doesn't deserve. Let's say that she's turned a new leaf, and has become the reliable, trustworthy, and loyal partner that Marinette deserves. I'm sure that Alya has Marinette's back, and will never go behind said back in order to do something completely unsurprising and wholly indicative of the character I actually know her to be.

Especially not a mere three episodes later...

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 4 Episode 24 Penalteam

(Spoilers below) Two episodes in 24 hours. I was a bit underwhelmed by Qilin. So Lets see what Penalteam brings to the table

-Kim and Marinette are Captains.

-Kim picked Max first then asked Markov who should he pick for the best chance of winning. (That is hilarious)

-Marinette picks alya

-Marinette points out Kim is cheating

-So Mr.Divia (idk how thats spelled.) He is gonna teach them soccer/Futbol

-I think the lesson for today is gonna be teamwork (call it a hunch)

-Alix suggesting Girls against boys. Which Kim points out they would lose again. Which a lot of people would take as the cliche of cartoons making girls better than boys but really... All of the girls except Chloé and Lila are CRAZY STRONG (rose is especially strong). And Aside from Kim and Adrien (and nino somewhat) none of the boys are really athletic. Ivan is big but he is slow.

-Nino throwing shade at Chloé.

-Nathaniel you a lazy bitch proving my point, I love you.

-Marc you are adorable little bean. boy gushing about Soccer. (I want to protect him

-So the coach is like a sports journalist. Marc would probably know about good writers. also 50 BUCKS SAYS THATS THE BABY DADDY

-Nathaniel making marc come up with an excuse for him. Dude... WHERE HAS NATHANIEL BEEN? I MISSED MY BOY

-Marc is pretty good at soccer (also he went over the top with that pass

-Marc getting some development.

-Sabrina is mad fast but then Chloé pulls the forbidden (listen to me card) And marinette encourages

-Ivan doesnt want to hurt anyone (cause he too stronk) Also i heard that cute nickname Myvan for LIFE

-GASP! Marinette found her self facing the perfect defence against her... ADRIEN.

-And Adrien doesnt know how to play soccer. Considering he litterally showed he can dribble and shoot in Furious Fu... Meh its. funny I will ignore it.

-NINO LOOKS SO BETRAYED

-Yo, That was some clever Play manuver (As a former soccer player i compliment Marinette's amazing Shot on goal.)

-And Lila is there but is on bench. As usual (also she never learned Lila's name) Marinette knows its bulls***

-Marinette's suggestion makes sense and Is a dig at Chloé

-WAIT... Is Chloe waiting to get akumatized?! OMG they really just said f*** all of that previous character development. But also using it to get out of class. Mood

-Oh look a reason for Mega akuma

-Chloé just like "Just do the thing already I know what you want."

-I really like the design of penalteam

-Chloé being next level petty (I am living for it

-Ms Bustier is like "Vengence isnt the answer" but like... isnt it though (jk) and she got red carded

-And Alya is out via slide tackle (which warps her out into a little ball)

-And Alix is out too... So no bunnyx

-Ooo, the more goals means less space

-Plagg hates soccer

-Ladybug is like "Me and Chat noir can kick your butt." But chat noir is fidgiting

-OH THAT WAS CLEVER OF CHLOÉ. Putting it so she cant be un akumatized.

-Chat noir whispering that he sucks at soccer. and Ladybug realizing (s*** we need reinforcements)

-The commenter is great

-Wtf was Luka, kagami and Zoe doing there? I get that marc took Nathaniel's place.

-Looks like they speed running the other miraculous holders

- Sabrina's power is called Fetch. PFFFFF (oh this will be useful in the finale)

-Sabrina is too much of a simp. Honey get a personality

-OHHHH. Marc has the cock Rooster. I was confused. okay neat.

-Wait she found nathaniel?!

-Ivan you sweet bean.

-"ITS NOT SPORT ANYMORE ITS ANIMAL ABUSE." Best line

-Okay so the announcer conveniently knows the old heroes.

-So new heroes. Miss Hound, Rooster bold (like booster gold i see you), Caprakid, and Minotaurox.

-Okay so now that I have seen the costumes. Rooster kid and Caprakid look cool

-Now i want a Miraculous Strikers game. GET ON THAT ZAG

-AND VIPERION IS DOWN! First one out.

-HOLY CRAP! CARAPACE GOT SMASHED THROUGH LIKE 4 BUILDINGS. CHAT NOIR WAS TAKING HITS LIKE THAT?!

-So now the field is all of Paris. Neat.

-Seriously giving me mario strikers vibes and I LOVE IT

-And Ryuuko is out.

-Man Ladybug really needs to learn about the lesson of the day

-CHAT NOIR OWN GOALED!!! AND HE LOOKED SO HAPPY. YOU STUPID CINNAMON ROLL. NEVER CHANGE

-And Pigella is down. They are getting their asses kicked

-12 to 0 at halftime. Really starting to feel like space jam

-Ladybug giving the team pep talk. She needed Mike's secret stuff

-YO!! THAT SHOT BY ROOSTER BOLD THO!

-And the game is tied up

-So minotaurox power is Called resistence. Which makes him immune to other powers. Like a charging bull. I expected it but it is very cool.

-And Penalteam cheated. What a surprise. (shadowmoth did say she could)

-"IM THE VILLAIN!" we get it thomas.

-And she red carded chat noir

-And now the game is on a 5 minute dead line

-Shadow moth is basically watching with popcorn

-And the Lucky charm.

-Oh so Ladybug's plan is really clever.

-And Caprikid can make any object he wants but its not magical. So its the exact opposite of Ladybug's lucky charm. Thats kind of situational AND a reference to evillustrator. AND IT HAS THE COOLEST NAME EVER! Genesis

-And they fooling her

-Sublimation. Basically the power to make a specific outcome occur. Thats a really cool power

-So this plan is really brilliant

-And DUCKIES!!!

-Shadowmoth is trying to calm her down

-Chloe just RAGE QUIT! Amazing

-And thats how ladybug and team wins

-Shadowmoth is salty

-And NATHANIEL JOINED THE GAME

-Oh and Lila-Chloe alliance. (welp. My fanfic was already outdated. so this doesnt matter) Risk now makes more sense

___________________________________________________________

Okay so I did feel the hero intros were rushed. But I was very entertained.

I wish they didnt bulk intro the other heroes. It feels like they got robbed. But I did enjoy the akuma and the set up.

The ending was also good.

The lesson of the day was obvious but that was expected. It was a lot more fun

8 out of 10.

If the other heroes were more fleshed out and Ivan and Sabrina were given more personality I feel like this would be higher.

[mikauzoran]

Marichat/Lila Fake-Dating/Emotional Blackmail: Betting Against the House: Chapter Six

Read it on AO3: Betting Against the House: Chapter Six: Fidelity

Marinette was so engrossed in her sewing project that Tikki had to inform her that Chat Noir was tapping on her skylight.

“What?” She looked up with a jerk, her stitch going crooked as her hands accidentally moved the material.

“Chat Noir’s here,” Tikki repeated, glancing back up towards the skylight. “Or, he might have just left. I don’t hear him knocking anymore.”

Marinette swore under her breath as she pushed herself up out of the chair and sprang into action, ascending the ladder up to her loft at double her normal speed. She didn’t see him at the window, so she pushed it open and pulled herself up onto her balcony.

He turned around from where he’d been leaning on the balcony railing, taking her in with soft eyes she was more used to seeing as Ladybug.

“Uh…hey,” he greeted, raising a hand tentatively.

“Hey.” She blinked, eyes going to the rose in his other hand. “Is that…?”

She pointed.

He followed her gaze, looking down at his own hand in surprise. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.”

He lifted the rose, holding it out to her as he timidly advanced. “I think you dropped this—I mean, I know you dropped it. I saw you drop it, but… Did you want it back?”

A cloudy expression set into her face as she stepped forward to take the rose and then stared at it thoughtfully.

It didn’t look like her thoughts were positive ones.

“You don’t have to take it back,” he hurriedly added. “I’ll keep it if you don’t want—”

With a jolt like one suddenly waking in the middle of a dream, Marinette’s gaze whipped around to her right, and she began searching the streets below.

“…Uh… If you’re looking for Adrien Agreste, he’s gone,” Chat informed gently, not all together sure that she was even looking for him in the first place.

Marinette looked back to him in surprise. “He is?”

Chat nodded. “I kind of saw the…er…little scene…between you and him. I was here to see you, and I just happened to catch…whatever that was. Sorry.”

She held up her hands and waved them, seeming to come back fully to the present moment and out of her thoughts. “No, it’s okay. It was…” She winced, biting her lip. “It was nothing. Um… Did you want to come in?”

“May I?” He took a hesitant step forward. “I don’t want to bother you. I heard…” His brow furrowed, and he lowered his voice. “I heard a couple things. Are you feeling okay? I heard you were sick.”

She averted her gaze, her cheeks colouring slightly. “Thanks. Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not actually sick. I just…I kind of feel like crap. I probably look like crap,” she laughed ruefully, glancing down at her sweatpants and baggy t-shirt and touching her hair self-consciously.

“You look cute,” he chuckled. “I dig the messy bun.”

She cracked up at that. “Thanks, but it got that way by accident rather than design. It was a fully-functional, respectable-looking bun earlier before I rolled around and pulled on my hair in grief and messed it up.”

He clicked his tongue, waving away her protests. “You’re rocking it, Princess. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”

Her lips settled into a soft smile, and she motioned for him to follow her down into her room. “Come in, Minou. I could use a friendly face. For some reason, today, it feels like everyone’s against me.”

“I promise they’re not really,” he attempted to comfort her as they made their way down into her attic bedroom.

She hummed ambivalently, dropping the rose off at her desk before taking a seat on her chaise and gesturing for him to sit at her feet. “Can I play with your hair? Please?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied, hoping he didn’t sound too eager as he sat between her knees, his back to her.

They sat in silence for a good minute or two, Marinette running her fingers through his hair to comb it and then separating little strands into sections to braid, before she finally spoke up, mumbling, “…Today kind of sucked.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered a little more balefully than made sense since she didn’t know that he was the chief cause of her strife. “Did you feel like talking about it?”

“No. I mean, yeah, but…” She pursed her lips, shaking her head. “It’s complicated.”

He waited a beat, debating before remarking offhandedly, as if he had no personal stake in the matter, “…I hear that Adrien Agreste is persona non grata around here. Apparently he’s dating that awful Lila girl?”

“Lila freaking Rossi,” Marinette hissed. “I don’t know what the heck is the matter with him. How can he just…? She is worse than awful, Chat Noir. She’s a bully and a liar and—ugh. I don’t even,” she growled. “How can he even stand to let her touch him? He knows what she’s like, and still he…he…” Marinette petered out with another “Ugh!” of frustration.

Chat swallowed hard, guilt wrapping its fingers around his heart and squeezing painfully. “Maybe…Maybe there’s some piece to the puzzle that you’re missing,” he suggested cautiously. “Maybe he has a good reason. Maybe he doesn’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” she pouted sullenly, her temper cooling somewhat. “He could stand up for himself and say no for once. He’s always been like this, Chat Noir. He never wants to cause trouble, and he always avoids confrontation. He’s spineless.”

Chat winced, feeling the jab slide clean between his ribs and puncture a lung.

“He just appeases everyone and lets them walk all over him. It makes me sick sometimes to watch him cave without a word. I don’t know what I ever saw in him, and I don’t know why I put my faith in him,” she muttered bitterly.

“Maybe it’s more complicated than you think,” he offered in a flimsy attempt at self-defence. “I’m sorry he let you down, Marinette. You’re totally within your rights to be angry, but you can’t know what’s going on inside his head. Maybe he has a good reason, and you’ll feel bad later for being so harsh on him.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She blew out a long sigh, dropping her arms from his hair to loosely hang around his neck and resting her head on top of his. “I’m just really hurting right now, Chaton. He was the one person I thought I could count on in my struggle with Lila, so I’m feeling utterly betrayed,” she whimpered. “It’s hard to give him the benefit of the doubt when I can’t imagine any circumstance that would compel him to date her.”

Chat closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe through the aching pain in his chest. It killed him to sit there useless while she was hurting—while he was hurting her. But he couldn’t explain himself. She’d insist that he stop, and then what would have been the point of submitting to Lila’s ever-increasing demands over the years?

He had to see this through to the finish.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” he whispered helplessly. “I wish I could do something to make it better for you. Know that I would do anything to make it better.”

“Well,” she chuckled halfheartedly, trying to lighten the mood. “You could start by not trying to make me behave rationally and think about things from Adrien’s point of view. It would be easier if I could just demonize him and lash out at him with all of my righteous fury.”

“Sorry to take away your scapegoat,” he laughed weakly.

“Yeah,” she teased, giving his hair a little nuzzle. “Whose side are you on, anyway? Mine or his?”

He twisted around to face her, kneeling at her feet and gazing up at her earnestly. “Yours,” he stressed, desperate for her to believe him. “Yours. Always yours, even when it doesn’t feel like it.”

She blinked at him, taken aback by his vehemence.

Slowly, a warm, genuine smile danced across her lips, and she leaned in to brush a delicate kiss against his forehead. “Thank you.”

His heart nearly exploded as she pulled back and smiled down at him with a soft look that made him think that maybe he had a chance after all.

“Yeah. I mean, yeah. Anytime,” he replied dumbly, struggling to get his brain and his mouth to work in concert. “You’re welcome. Always.”

She laughed—a light, airy sound that made his heart soar—and it was obvious from the smug look on her face that she could tell how smitten he was.

He couldn’t bring himself to care. So what if she knew she had him at her mercy? He trusted her with his heart.

“Wanna play video games?” she inquired, breaking him out of his reverie.

He blinked at her, his brain still scrambled from the memory of her lips against his skin.

“If you have time,” she hastened to add, nerves flaring up at his lack of a response. “I mean, I know you’re busy what with saving Paris and regular life stuff, but…if you weren’t doing anything, I was supposed to be hanging out with my friends tonight, only that’s not happening because Adrien is a traitor, so if you wanted to hang out, play some Smash Brothers, have dinner with me and my family, snuggle on the couch and watch movies…? I could use the company,” she confessed.

“Yes to all of the above,” he replied enthusiastically, finally getting a handle on how his mouth functioned again.

Adrien was still floating on cloud nine when he returned home several hours later.

 Lila had pressured Adrien into agreeing to come up with a romantic surprise for her in response to Adrien’s claim that Nino had been consulting with Adrien about a surprise for Alya the previous day (since Adrien was, allegedly, so good at that kind of thing), and Adrien did not aim to disappoint.

He escorted Lila to her locker where she found beautiful orange lilies inside.

“Oh, Adrien!” Lila squealed, leaping into his arms and giving his cheek a joyful kiss. “They’re beautiful!”

He couldn’t tell if she were just putting on a show or if she were genuinely pleased with the gift.

She was certainly satisfied with the response of the other students as they cooed and raved about how sweet Adrien was, what a cute couple he and Lila made.

Marinette stood apart from the others, looking on in a mix of resentment and pensiveness.

Adrien wondered if she knew anything about the meanings of flowers. If so, she might know that orange lilies were not a nice gift. Perhaps she was wondering if Adrien knew the implications of the flowers he had given his girlfriend.

She caught him gazing at her and turned away, going to her own locker. Once there, she gave a start, a soft gasp escaping her lips when she spotted the sunflowers, tucked inside and waiting for her with a little note attached.

Adrien’s heartbeat quickened a little at the pleased smile gracing her lips and the rosy blush rising in her cheeks.

Alya was the first to notice Marinette’s surprise and draw the attention of the others.

“What’s this, Girl? A secret admirer?” she trilled excitedly.

“Alya, don’t—” barely made it past Marinette’s lips as Alya swiped the card and read aloud, “‘For my Princess. I hope these sunflowers brighten your day, even though they’re not half as radiant as you are. Much love from your not-so-secret admirer.’”

The girls chattered excitedly all at once, completely forgetting about Lila to join in the speculation about Marinette’s mystery boy.

Lila turned a venomous glare on Adrien, hissing dangerously under her breath, “Your ‘Princess’, is she? You did this on purpose to upstage me, didn’t you?”

Adrien frowned, leveraging all of his acting skills to feign wounded innocence. “Hey, I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that. Those flowers aren’t from me.”

Lila’s eyes narrowed, scanning him intently.

“He’s just a friend,” Marinette insisted over the din of her friends. “Just a close friend that I play video games online with. He’s a total flirt. He’s not even serious. He knows I had a rough day yesterday, and he was just trying to cheer me up.”

The girls didn’t seem to buy Marinette’s story entirely, but her persistent denials seemed to mollify all but Alya.

“Oh, Honey. I think he’s serious, even if you’re not,” Alya hummed skeptically, pitying the poor boy who had fallen for her rather oblivious best friend.

The other girls joined in with sympathetic hums of their own.

Adrien turned to Lila. “I feel like you owe me an apology for your accusations of infidelity.”

“How about not?” Lila growled quietly, shoving her books roughly into Adrien’s arms as she continued to seethe over Marinette inadvertently stealing the spotlight.

 The week stretched on with, luckily, only a few minor incidents to mark it.

Marinette continued to hold a grudge against Adrien, but she was more than happy to spend her evenings with Chat Noir.

He was glad that he could help her feel less alone, even if it were just in some small way, and the time he passed with her was a balm for him too.

It was a relief, after dealing with Lila’s ever-increasingly ridiculous demands all day, to cuddle and watch Disney and Studio Ghibli movies with Marinette, to bake cookies together, to play niche video games, or just to sit in her room working on separating things but enjoying the other’s presence.

Nino kept giving Adrien worried glances, looking like he was this close to saying something several times a day.

It made Adrien sick with anxiety.

He shouldn’t have told Nino. It felt like he had the sword of Damocles hanging over his head and never knew when it would drop, when Nino would break his promise and try to tell everyone about Lila, ruining years’ worth of Adrien’s sacrifices and hard work to protect Marinette.

If Nino asked him if he were okay one more time, Adrien was going to cry.

All he could do was lie and say he was fine, all the while knowing that Nino knew he was lying.

“Just don’t say anything to anyone,” Adrien kept repeating, and Nino would nod, assuring, “Yeah. No. I won’t.”

But Adrien could see the way Nino tensed around Lila, how he clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes whenever she invaded Adrien’s personal space or asked him to do things for her.

The week was rough and already wearing Adrien down by the end of it.

He felt sick with guilt over hurting Marinette and sick with fear about when Nino was going to crack and spill the beans. That wasn’t even taking into account the hell Lila was putting him through.

Lila was steadily getting worse. She was growing bolder with her public displays of affection to the point where Adrien was genuinely uncomfortable.

The casual touches and the expectation of cheek kisses had quickly crossed the line. More than anything, he was sick of the sensation of Lila clinging to him. The constant contact and her weight and her warmth made his skin crawl. He couldn’t wait for evening to come so his personal space could be his own again to share (or not share) as he saw fit.

Adrien had always been a little touch-starved, but, now, physical contact was something he found himself recoiling from, sometimes even with Marinette.

On the third day, Lila made Adrien move to the back of the class to sit with her, and it was torture to be separated from his friends. Classes had been a brief reprieve from Lila’s presence, an oasis where he didn’t have to think about her for hours at a time, but, now, even that solace was stolen from him.

He missed passing notes with Nino and the little sweets his best friend would often share.

Adrien had considered it a victory when, the previous year, he’d convinced his father to allow him to eat lunch at school with his friends. Now, he found himself wishing he could go home for lunch again because Lila had gotten it into her head that she needed to sit on Adrien’s lap and that they needed to feed one another to show what a lovey-dovey couple they were.

Adrien was quickly finding that he had little appetite during the day. He scarfed down leftover baked goods from Tom and Sabine’s as well as whatever the Dupain-Chengs had for dinner in the evenings when he visited Marinette, but he couldn’t keep much down during the day.

The smell of Lila’s cloyingly sweet floral perfume made him feel nauseated.

He wasn’t sure how much more he could take, but he was certain that something had to give, and soon.

He was afraid it was going to be him.

Adrien was at his breaking point, so maybe that’s why, when Ladybug asked what was wrong that Sunday on patrol, he gave in so easily and spilled his guts to her.

[algernoninwonderland]

It’s been three seasons and I’m still not sure what Miraculous wants to be about

TL:DR: Every single one of Miraculous’s themes, and there are so many of them the show wants to tackle, is dealt with in the most superficial fashion, making none of them stand out. By trying to be a show about lots and lots of different things all at once without a strong focus on its meagre overarching plot, it ends up being a directionless mess. 

Is it a cartoon about love? Sure, if it’s romantic, one-sided, bordering-obsession love, I guess. That’s only one flavour of love but sure, let’s roll with that… Except the directors and writers are so afraid that the audience will lose interest in it that they have characters say “look how in love they are” about our main duo all the time. Showing Marinette blushing and stuttering and Chat Noir doing his, err, thing, had gotten stale. The writers and directors have understood that problem but haven’t come up with anything new, it would seem.

It’s a show about the hardships of growing up, right? But before the New York Special, none of the characters outside of Adrien were allowed to feel down for more than a minute without being akumatised or inspirational music and uplifting music popping up instead of letting the scenes carry any emotional weight. Plus, the characters can only achieve so much growth before the episode hits its magical reset button, and it often feels like the characters change to fit the plot instead of following any kind of progression (or regression, for that matter).

A show about school life, then? This isn’t a slice of life anime, most of the secondary cast is too one-dimensional for it to work anyway, most episodes take place when our heroes aren’t in school, Marinette and Adrien’s friends have been demoted to glorified Adrienette shippers as the show went on and that’s a shame because Alya was really cool when she was something other than that and the mouthpiece for most superhero titbits. The classroom drama is too caricatural to be compelling, even for its target audience of schoolchildren.

Could it be a show about family? Parents are mostly out of the picture in most cartoons, otherwise they’d get in the way of all the adventuring. Miraculous has the occasional “that one family member comes for one episode and is never talked about ever again” episode but that family member is turned into the Monster of the Week. Confrontation, all the time. It could be dealt with in a way that could resound with the viewers emotionally, but no, have dumb sound effects, forced accents and Kung-Food, that’ll do the trick. Oh, and we get crumbs of “Adrien loves his dad who is mostly Bad but still cares about him... Or does he?”. Man, the Adrien side of the show is the one they created with the more effort, didn’t they?

Is it a show about life in Paris? I made a whole post about how Paris doesn’t work as a space in Miraculous, and yeah, sure, it’s a nice commercial for tourism, shows us a bunch of iconic buildings and monuments, but that’s just neat and doesn’t feel very intimate.

Surely it’s a show about heroism? There are snippets of that, but heroism as envisioned in Miraculous is mostly “fighting the bad guys when they manifest themselves, our heroes tried to track them down that one time but we were afraid we’d run out of plot so that ended up leading nowhere”. That’s simplistic, even for a cartoon aimed at children. Even the Instagram pages showed more of the daily lives of its heroes, the smaller, less spectacular and yet meaningful acts of heroism they did. Superman saves the cat from time to time, and it feels just as emotional as him punching the baddies if not more so.

In an interview with the Times Magazine in 2000, Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame had this to say about television, and I think this quote resonates pretty well with Miraculous:

"Television touches on an issue then dances away from it and never comes back to it. So it has the illusion of having a strong point of view, but the real point of view of television is that nothing matters, because it's going to be replaced in the next millisecond by something different, and then replaced again and again.

The thing is, Miraculous has a plot. Well, if you want to get into details, it has a shoestring for a plot in 90% of its episodes instead of a narrative thread, or rather, there is a narrative thread but it’s buried so deep within most episodes you need a degree in archaeology to be able to dig it up. Still, it could make these themes it dances around an inherent part of the narrative. 

The showrunners and producers just seem to have forgotten that running a show doesn’t mean “making an episode and then another and then another still” but “ensuring that there’s a sense of direction to it all that makes the show as a whole more gratifying to watch.”

It’s an entirely directionless franchise as a whole, not just the show, but that’s on ZAG. There were these comics that may or not be canon, and now a manga for some obscure reason (money, the reason is that ZAG is after profit first and foremost and does everything it can to rake in as much money as possible before it goes bankrupt).

[purrincess-chat]

Kill Em With Kindness CH4

It’s here finally! And Adrien is getting more involved too since I know a lot of you really wanted him to do more even though this is more Marinette doing things with Adrien’s support, but I digress.

Read on AO3

Chapter 4

“So,” Jagged said a few weeks later, dropping onto the couch. Marinette sat scratching Fang under the chin, and the croc melted under her touch. “How are things with little miss liar?”

“Going well. We’ve successfully blocked her from going to the movies with us and from attending a party Nino threw,” Marinette said. “And I got her to wear a medical boot for a week because she claimed she hurt her foot to get out of gym class.”

“Is that all?” He laughed, and Marinette’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Well, yeah. That’s our plan. To keep inconveniencing her with her lies,” Marinette said, and Jagged sat forward, shaking his head.

“If you really want to get to this girl, you’re going to have to do better or else she’s going to learn your game and start fighting back,” Jagged said pointedly, and Marinette pursed her lips.

“I guess you’re right, but we don’t know what else to do without stooping to her level,” she said, lowering her gaze, and Jagged placed a hand on her shoulder with a smirk.

“You’re forgetting one very important thing, love. You’ve got something that this girl doesn’t: Your Uncle Jagged.” He jutted his thumb to his chest and waggled his eyebrows. “And he’s about to show you how to seek some good old-fashioned revenge.”

***

“Marinette? Is that you?”

Marinette sat up, lowering her sunglasses to peer up at Alya, Nino, and their siblings. She rolled onto her side, digging her toes into the hot sand as kids and teens scoured the banks of the Seine for the perfect spot to enjoy the beach.

“Oh, hey, guys! I’ve saved a spot for all of us,” she said, gesturing to the open area.

“Great, thanks. You’re amazing, but quick question, is than an alligator next to you?” Alya pointed to Fang sunning himself beside her.

“It’s a crocodile! You should know that cuz you’re a grown up!” Chris corrected, crossing his arms over his chest, and Alya rolled her eyes.

“This is Fang. Jagged is performing tonight in Berlin, so he’s busy doing show prep, and he really didn’t want Fang to miss the beach in Paris, so he asked if I could watch him today,” Marinette said, giving Fang’s belly a rub.

“And you said yes?” Nino quirked a brow.

“Of course! Fang is such a sweetheart, aren’t you?” She cooed, patting his scales affectionate. “He just wants to soak up the sun like all of us.”

“Can’t argue with that I guess,” Alya said as the kids crowded around to pet him.

“Marinette, hey!” Adrien called, and the rest of the class followed closed behind. “Thanks for scoping out this awesome spot.”

“It was no problem. I came early so Fang could enjoy the beach as much as he wanted today,” she said with a smile.

“Whoa, is that Jagged Stone’s crocodile?” Kim asked.

“Yep.” Marinette smirked.

“Whoa, Jagged really trusted you with his crocodile for a day?” Alix asked in disbelief, and Marinette winked over her sunglasses.

“That’s awesome!” Kim grinned, dropping his bag and rushing over to join the kids. “Hey, Lila, do you ever get to babysit Fang since you and Jagged are so close?”

The girl who had all but blended into the back of the crowd upon seeing the crocodile stiffened as everyone turned to her, but she was a natural, so it didn’t frazzle her for long. “Oh, yeah. All the time. Jagged trusts me so much.”

“Yeah, he tried to call you about today, but you’re always so busy, so I told him my schedule was clear,” Marinette said.

“Oh, that’s understandable,” Nathaniel nodded.

“Alright, well, let’s set up the volleyball net. I want a rematch with Alix!” Kim said, shooting her a playful glare.

“We can rematch all you want, but you’re still going down!”

Marinette smiled as her classmates all settled into their niches, Marc applying gobs of sunscreen to Nathaiel, Juleka and Rose setting up an umbrella, Nino and Alya helping the kids with a sandcastle. Lila picked a spot as far away from Fang as possible, which was fine because it left the spot next to Marinette wide open for Adrien to drop his bag.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Of course,” she said, cheeks pink from more than just the heat.

“I can’t believe Jagged actually loaned you Fang for the day,” he said, lowering his voice and glancing around at the class to ensure they weren’t close enough to overhear. “I mean, it’s so crazy that he wants to help.”

“Well, the part about a show in Berlin and Fang wanting to go to the beach are true. I get along with Fang so well that it wasn’t a big deal,” Marinette said with a shrug. “But Jagged told me that in order to really pull the plug on Lila, I need to start using my own connections.”

“Hmm…” Adrien tapped his chin. “Ya know, between the two of us, we can probably work our way around pretty easily.”

“Lila has lied about a lot of famous people,” Marinette pointed out, and a smile curled on Adrien’s lips. “What?”

“Do you want Clara Nightingale’s number?”

***

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news, and welcome back to Side-by-Side. I’m your host Nadja Shamack, and I’m joined today by teen fashion model and face of Gabriel Agreste brand, Adrien Agreste!” Nadja declared with every ounce of a reporter’s camera enthusiasm. “Thank you so much for agreeing to come on the show today, Adrien. How are you tonight?”

“I’m doing quite well. Thank you for having me, Nadja,” Adrien replied, leaning back on the couch casually.

“Glad to hear it! We’ve got quite the scoop for you all tonight because you have been quite the busy bee lately,” Nadja said, shooting him a knowing smile. “You star in the animated Miraculous movie voicing Chat Noir. You just had a new spread for Gabriel’s summer line come out, so how do you unwind after a long day of being a famous teen model and voice actor?”

“Well, Nadja, there are a number of ways, but I love spending time with my friends the most. We actually just went to the beach recently while it’s set up here in Paris,” he said, and Nadja jumped at the opportunity.

“Yes, tell us about that.”

“So, my school friends and I all decided to hit the beach together, and it was a lot of fun. We played volleyball, built sandcastles, ate lots of ice cream-”

“You did have some ice cream, didn’t you, and there have been a lot of rumors flying around because a lot of people happened to notice you spending a lot of time with a fellow classmate in particular,” Nadja said with a smirk as a picture flashed on the screen of Adrien and Marinette smiling over ice cream on the beach. “Lots of people are speculating about the two of you online especially after you posted this to your Instagram.” The image changed to Adrien’s post with Marinette and Clara at the spa. “What can you tell us about your relationship with Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Any rumors you’d like to clear up?”

“Certainly,” Adrien said with a laugh. “Marinette is a good friend of mine. She’s super talented and a really gifted creator. She actually made the swimsuit and hat she wore to the beach which is way awesome, and it was really cool because she and Jagged Stone are very close – he views her as family – and she was actually babysitting Fang at the beach for him while he was performing in Berlin, so we got to hang out with a crocodile all day which was cool.”

“Was he well behaved?” Nadja asked.

“Very,” Adrien chuckled.

“Now, you say that Marinette is a good friend, but is she a good friend, or a good friend?” Nadja quirked a brow, and Adrien sat back with a laugh.

“Just a good friend,” he said.

“A good friend that you take to the spa with Clara Nightingale?” Nadja said pointedly, and Adrien bit back a laugh.

“As I said, Marinette is super talented, and she has invited me to hang out with her and Jagged a few times lately, so while we were at the beach, we were talking about how stressed we are since she keeps pretty busy herself, and I normally go to the spa every other week because when you’re a teen model, facials are a must.” He paused to gesture to his glowing skin.

“So, anyway, I invited her to come along, and sometimes when Clara is in Paris, I invite her to come along too because she loves that spa and always goes whenever she’s in Paris anyway, and Clara loves Marinette, she actually wanted her to play Ladybug in her music video until they changed ideas, and she happened to be coming to Paris around the same time, so I text her to see if she wanted to tag along, and she did. So, we all went and hung out and had an awesome time.” He shrugged at the end as if it were no big deal.

“So, there is nothing romantic between you two?” Nadja asked, and Adrien shook his head.

“No, but she and I are great friends, and she is doing really amazing things for herself. I felt like I was the least accomplished person hanging out in the spa that day,” he chuckled. “Maybe sometime soon you’ll have her on the show talking about her fashion line. I think she’s absolutely going to kill it.”

“I look forward to it,” Nadja said. “And since you two are just friends, teen girls in Paris can sleep tonight?”

“Yes, please get some sleep,” Adrien laughed, and Nadja turned to the camera with a smile.

“You heard it here first folks. Adrien Agreste is still single,” she said. “After the break, we’ll talk more about Adrien’s role in the Miraculous animated movie, so stay tuned, and we’ll be right back!”

[fantasyfandommaiden]

Chloe Knows: The Miraculous Roasting of Paris’ Superheros

- When Chloe realises that there are other heros she begins to wonder if they also need her ‘encouragement’ of being a better superhero. She knows that her technique of insulting someone to improve themselves doesn’t work for everybody (the only reason it works for Adrien is because of his over-competitive nature, as well as his need to prove people wrong.)

- However, after seeing Rena Rouge a few times she notices that the girl seems a bit too… forward for the fox? If that makes any sense? I mean, Chloe was a closet anime/hero geek, and the fox seemed to be a sort of hero that would specialise more in stealth than going straight into the fray. Her weapon is a flute for kwami sakes. A FLUTE! 

- However she knows that just bitching about her to the class wont get her anywhere, after all, what is the likelihood of Rena Rouge AND Chat Noir being in her class? (Oh she will be KICKING herself several months from now when she remembers this) but how could she get her point across?

- It was actually Alya of all people that gave her the idea when she was bragging about getting an interview with Ladybug about the new heros. 

- The gears in her head began to turn as she looked towards her best friend and confidant, Sabrina.

Chloe: … Sabrina, your taking programming as an elective right?

Sabrina: *somewhat confused* … Yes, you said it sounded like ‘too much work’ and ‘involved too coding’ so you opted for the art elective instead.

Chloe: And you were saying yesterday that one of your assignments for your final mark is to make a website layout right? But you were having trouble coming up with an idea?

Sabrina: Well, I had thought about possibly doing one on gymnastics, or cute animals, but those topics were taken before I could comment and I don't really want to do a website someone else is doing… why?

Chloe: *a wide grin appears across her face* How about I help you with this assignment? I have a stellar idea that NO ONE will ever think to do.

- So with Sabrina’s programming skills, and Chloe helping inspire the layout (she couldn’t just outright design the layout for Sabrina’s final assignment, the two girls had gotten into the habit as of late to do homework together but not FOR each other) the website was designed. 

- It was called ‘Miraculous Roasting’ and the main page layout had dark gray wall paper with all (known) Miraculous symbols on it, so it currently only had Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge and the recently debuted Carapace. The symbols made it look almost like polka dots, which Chloe wasn’t crazy about (she was more of a strips girl but whatever). 

- Their first video they posted? ‘The Roasting of Chat Noir: Part 1’

- The video literally starts with Chloe mid rant about ‘What do you MEAN I have to keep this video under five minutes?!

Sabrina: Studies show that videos over five minutes when you first start don't get as many views! Your on!

Chloe: I have a lot to say about this mangy cat that will take longer than five minutes

Sabrina: Then this will be the first part! Now come on, were recording!

- Sabrina becomes Chloe’s costart simply because she has to make sure that Chloe doesn’t go off on a tangent and stay on topic. She also makes sure that Chloe doesn’t get too ‘wound up’ so no Akuma’s appear.

- She also doesn’t know EXACTLY why she insists on being salty towards the heros, but she figures that it's just a way to blow off steam since Chloe has been trying really hard not to be a bully towards people… and its kind of fun to poke fun at the heros.

The first episode is about Chat Noir, the basic stuff like how he seems to goof off at inappropriate moments, being very flirty with Ladybug and always taking the hit and getting akumatized. 

Sabrina: But Chloe, if Ladybug gets hit with a mind controlling akuma, wouldn’t that mean that Chat Noir would have to fight Ladybug?

Chloe: …. Okay, he gets a pass on saving Ladybug, but he could at least TRY not to get mind controlled by an akuma every other fight!

- That video alone makes them popular overnight, with many people stating that although some of the comments are true, that over all it seems to be in good fun (similar to CinemaSins), and Chloe WILL admit when she is wrong about something or give some praise to heros when they do things right. 

- The next hero they do is Rena Rouge, and Chloe’s first statement is ‘In other news, another furry has joined the mix!’

Chloe: I mean, I get it, she's cool looking, I dig the costume even IF orange isn’t a great colour… but she should NOT be in the front lines! Her power is ILLUSIONS which she creates with a FLUTE, why the hell is she in the front lines using it like a bat?!

- Alya is a bit salty about being called out like that, and as much as she hates to admit it… Chloe is kind of right. So she makes a point the next time she’s Rena Rouge to hang back a bit (although it's REALLY hard for her to do that). 

- After Rena Rouge’s video is released, Sabrina asks Chloe when she’ll do Ladybug’s roast video.

- It takes Chloe a full two minutes to realise her friend isn’t joking.

[gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights]

Rating: T

Chapter Summary:  Carapace helps Ladybug and Chat Noir build a bathroom.

Word Count:  2491 | Chapter 3/?

XXX

Carapace leaned over the back of the couch.  That made his hood-like mask slipped down over his eyes; she’d need to take his measurements and make adjustments.  Just one more thing to put on her list.  

“So. Bathrooms, huh?”

“Bathrooms.”  Marinette sighed, slumping back on the couch.  She had a notebook in her lap, but all of her ideas so far had been scratched out.  

She couldn’t Lucky Charm a toilet.  (She’d tried.)  She refused to dig a hole and just let Chat Noir Cataclysm the waste periodically.  (Ew.)  She’d even spitballed ideas with some of the kwamis, but like Plagg, none of them really understood the need for a bathroom.  Instead they just floated in front of the TV, playing Mario Kart on Chat’s Switch.

Carapace settled down on the couch next to her, sipping his Carpi Sun and watching the race. Kaalki was winning as Princess Peach, with Wayzz driving Bowser close behind.  Orikko seemed content to let Yoshi trail near the bottom of the rankings.  Xuppu as Donkey Kong was in last place, on account of him refusing to hold the remote right-side up.

“Do you have any ideas?”  She handed her notebook to Carapace.

“You don’t have to build a bathroom, y’know.  I thought it would be cool, especially if we all have a sleepover sometime, but you’ve already done a ton for us. We can deal.”  

She knew they could, but it would make her feel better to have a bathroom, too.  

(Plus, she’d aced her Physics exam last week.  It would be nice to repay Chat Noir somehow.)

“We’ve come this far.  I’m not going to give up now,” she said.

Carapace squinted down at the paper.  Flipped to the next blank page.  Flipped it back.

“Uhhhh… so what do you have ‘this far’?”

“...Pretty much nothing.  But I’m sure there’s a solution!  If I can figure out how to use a Lucky Charm every fight, I’m pretty sure I can come up with something as simple as indoor plumbing.”

“Maybe you’re thinking about it wrong.”  Carapace shut the notebook.  “You don’t write things down when you’re figuring out a Lucky Charm, right?  You just… I don’t know, it always looks like magic to me.”  He smiled sheepishly.

It wasn’t part of the miraculous magic.  It was just the way her brain worked.  But he had a point—it might help to look at this from a different angle.

“You’re right.”  

She stood, smiling at Wayzz’s laughter as the kwami crossed the finish line.  It was good for him to spend time with his friends again, which was why she’d met Carapace here this evening.  She hadn’t yet passed on the code for anyone else to open the Miracle Box.

“I’m going to need to borrow Kaalki,” she told the kwamis.

“Me?”  Kaalki frowned, pointing a hoof to her chest.  “What for?”

“I’m… not exactly sure yet,” she admitted.  Kaalki’s Voyage was definitely part of her plan, but she was still missing a few pieces.  

She scanned the room, gathering objects that caught her eye: a colander from the kitchen, the dragon choker in the open Miracle Box, the sewer map tucked behind that.  Then her yo-yo and the turtle bracelet on Nino’s wrist.  So close, but it still didn’t quite add up.

At least she had an idea of what she might need the yo-yo for.  She flipped it open and clicked on one of her few contacts.

“Bugaboo?”  Chat picked up on the first ring.  “Miss me already?”

“It sounds like you missed me, if you’re out and transformed.”  She smirked.  “Meet me at the base.  We’re putting in the bathroom.”

XXX

“I know your plans are usually pretty complicated, but are they always so…”

“Clever?  Amazing?  Inconceivable?”  Chat Noir asked while brushing off his hands.

“I don’t think that word means what you think it means,” Nino  said automatically, then shook his head.  “I was gonna say messy.”

“Not always.  It’s about fifty-fifty.”  Ladybug—well, Dragonbug, technically—used a broom to sweep out the black dust left over from Chat Noir’s Cataclysm.  It wasn’t enough dust to account for the huge chunk of rock that had been there.  His power must do more than just break things; it actually destroyed them.

Miraculous of destruction.  Duh.  Still, it was super cool to watch the magic up close and personal.

He could hardly believe Ladybug and Chat Noir had picked him out to hold his miraculous full-time.  Alya would’ve killed for a chance like this, and he couldn’t even tell her about it.  He kept worrying he’d accidentally let something slip, and then she’d use her nosy reporter skills to get the whole truth out of him.  

So far he’d been lucky.  Even if he almost cackled when she called “Carapace” a ninja-turtle wannabe.

“Carapace?  Are you ready?”  Dragonbug faced him.

“Huh?  Oh, yeah, of course!”

He stepped into the small room Dragonbug and Chat Noir had finished carving out.  The only thing that stood out was the cylindrical hole in the wall, just a little bit above his head.

His job was to use Shellter in the back of the indention, leaving just a fist-sized gap in the front of the spherical shield.  Luckily he’d practiced different barrier formations since Chat Noir had broken the news about his Miracle Box shield.  He still hadn’t found a useful way to protect the box, but he could make a shield with a hole in it now.

“Shellter!”  He called while plunging his fist into the hole.  Green light exploded inside, pushing the dirt and stone outwards.  The wall trembled slightly, but held.

“How’s that?”  He asked with a grin.  Dragonbug’s plan didn’t make sense to him yet, but he was sure it would be awesome.

“Perfect.”  She clapped him on the shoulder before they swapped places, her own hands inside the hole.  “Now—water dragon!”

He and Chat Noir peeked over her shoulders, trying to see what was happening.  

“You’re making a water tank,” Chat Noir realized with a grin.  “See?  What did I tell you, Cara?  Inconceivable.”

Nino just laughed.  At times like this, he felt like he wasn’t an outsider on the team.  As crazy cool as Chat Noir and Ladybug were, they weren’t larger-than-life.  They were just… dudes, like him.  There was no need to get starstruck like Rena.

Dragonbug capped the hole with the end of a plunger, her latest Lucky Charm.  Nino was just glad that hadn’t been for a toilet. 

“If I get you some measurements, Chat, can you do some math for me?  I want to know how much water this actually holds, and how many showers it should supply before we need to refill it.”

“Depends on how long your showers take, but sure.  I’ve had some physics problems like that before.”

Dragonbug used her sword to puncture a few smaller holes in the wall, then secured the colander over the top of the plunger.

“So it’s like a shower head.”  Nino nodded.  “Smart.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Carapace.”  She smiled at him.  “You were right.  I was thinking too hard, when we had everything we needed all along.”

His face warmed a bit under her praise.  “I didn’t do much.”

“It’s not always about what you do, turtle dude.”  Chat Noir slung an arm around his shoulders.  “We’re a team now.  And even though LB’s usually the brains, we all support each other.”

“Chat’s right.  Wayzz picked you for a reason, and so did we.”

It was cool that they the heroes wanted to include him, but it was hard to take them seriously when they’d all just jerry-rigged a shower together.

“Because I’d help you build a bathroom?”  He joked.  

“Come on, we were having a moment!”  Chat pulled back and playfully punched him in the arm.  “You’re supposed to be thinking wow, the amazing Chat Noir picked me!”

He cracked a grin.  “Ladybug’s right.  You’re a real drama queen, bro.”

Chat Noir gaped at his partner.  “When did you say that?”

“Most recently?  About an hour ago.  But if you meant how many times I’ve said it, I’ve already lost count.”

“You wound me, my Lady.”  He clutched his hands to his heart.  

“See?  My point exactly.”  She waved her sword at him with a smirk.

He sighed.  “Walked right into that one, didn’t I.”

“Yeah.”  Nino patted his shoulder consolingly.

“Maybe one day she’ll be the king to my drama queen,” Chat sighed again, but this time in a more lovesick sort of way.  The same way Marinette always sighed over his bro Adrien.  If Alya hadn’t expressly forbidden him from interfering in any way—and if Chat and Marinette weren’t both so hopelessly in love with their own crushes—he might’ve tried to set the two of them up on a blind date.  At least then they could both be dramatic together.

“Good luck with that, dude.”  

“Are you going to stand there sighing, or actually help me?”  Ladybug had her hands on her hips.  She’d already dismissed Longg, who flew to hover by Kaalki.

“You know I’m always at your command, my Lady.”  Chat swept his arm in a dramatic bow.  

“Show Carapace how to combine miraculouses.  He’s never done it before.”

“Me?”  Nino pointed to himself and blinked.  “I can do that too?”

“I said this base was for training purposes, didn’t I?”  Ladybug handed him the dark glasses.  “Well, consider this training.”

“What? I thought I was to transform the glorious and famous Chat Noir.”  Kaalki crossed her arms.

Chat’s eyes widened for a second before he grinned.  “You heard her.  Ready to admit how glorious I am yet?”

“In your dreams, kitty.”  Ladybug laughed before turning and crouching before the kwami.  “Please, Kaalki?  I may not know Carapace that well yet, but I know he has a good heart, and he’s always willing to protect others first.  I think that’s the most glorious thing of all, don’t you?”

Did she really think that?  He found his face warming again, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“She’s right, you know.”  Chat Noir nudged Nino with his elbow.  “You’re always running in to take hits.  You’re almost as bad as me.”

“I’ve actually got a shield, though.”  He patted the shield on his back, and Chat laughed.

“Good point.  I’ll let Ladybug throw you at the akumas next time.”

By then, Ladybug had finally convinced Kaalki to transform him.

“It’s really not hard,” the kwami said.  “All you need to do is speak my name and Wayzz’s, then say unify.  Just like Ladybug did to become Dragonbug.”

Nino had watched her combine the miraculouses before they started constructing the room. It had looked that simple, but he’d still assumed there was a trick to it.

“That’s it?  I don’t have to, I dunno, feel something in my heart?”

Chat laughed before thumping him on the back.  “You’re a funny dude, Cara.  Oh, but there is one thing she forgot to tell you—you’ve got to neigh like a horse while you transform for this one.”

“Chat!”  Ladybug smacked his arm, but he just laughed again.  “No, you don’t.  You will need to bring your hands together, though.  It allows the magic to flow through you better, so the powers mix evenly.  That’s what the Master always said, anyway.”

He nodded.  “Alright.  Wayzz, Kaalki, unify!”

He punched his fists together, and teal light crackled over him.  It tingled in a different way from the first transformation.  His turtle suit always felt warm, like putting on a comfortable blanket.  This was more like walking outside during a heat wave.  A moment of dizziness passed before he could breathe again.

“Does it always feel like that?”

“Oh.  Right.”  Ladybug smiled apologetically.  “I should’ve warned you about the heat.  It should pass in a moment.”

Sure enough, the heat faded like the dizziness had.  He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together.  The gloves of his suit were brown now instead of green; he wished he had a mirror to check out the rest of his costume.  They’d have get one for the bathroom eventually.

“Cool, cool.  Anything else I should know?”  He asked.

She went over how to use Voyage, then directed him to the spot she’d drawn out in chalk.  

Sweat beaded under his mask.  Getting the exact coordinates of a magic portal sounded a lot more complicated than throwing up a shield.  Whoever Pegasus was, he must be a real genius.

But right now they didn’t have Pegasus, and Ladybug seemed to think he could do this.  He didn’t want to disappoint her and Chat Noir.

He fixed the portal’s destination in his mind.

“You sure I can’t make this go to, I don’t know, Gabriel Agreste’s office?”  He asked with a grin.  “Y’know, as a random, nonspecific example.”

Chat Noir’s eyes widened for half a second before he doubled over laughing.  Ladybug looked mortified.

“What do you have against Gabriel Agreste?”  She asked.

“Other than that his designs are bland and unoriginal?”

“Or that he looks like he’s swallowed an onion in every photo?”  Nino added.

“Or his sour cream dollop toupée?”

“Heh, you mean tou-pee.”  

Chat Noir cackled at that, and they hi-fived.

“I’m sorry, bugaboo.  I think I’m going to have to replace you with the turtle.”

Ladybug rubbed her temples.  “I need Rena here.  This is too much idiot boy energy for me to handle.”

“You know you love us.”  Chat grinned.

Nino still couldn’t help wondering what beef Chat actually had with Adrien’s dad, but of course he couldn’t ask.  Just like he couldn’t admit that his own grudge against the candy-cane man came from how he treated Nino’s best bro.

“Alright, stand back.”  He finally shoed them away.  “I gotta get in the zone for this.”

He pictured the sewer—a real sewage plant, not the storm drain their base was connected to.  Then he punched his fist towards the floor.

“Voyage!”

A glowing portal opened up in the stone.  And it reeked.

“Smells like it worked.”  Ladybug pinched her nose.  “I’ll get the hardware set up later.  In the meantime…”

She dragged over a manhole cover that Chat had fetched for them on his way over.  It was wide enough to cover the small portal and stop the fumes from leaking out.

“I think that’s all we can do for now,” she said before holding out her fist.  “Pound it?”

Nino had shared Ladybug and Chat Noir’s post-battle tradition plenty of times before, but for some reason, this one felt as special as his first.  Maybe because it was over something so crazy.  Maybe he was getting sappy, but it felt like the heroes trusted him for more than just watching their backs in battle.

They were more than heroes, and they were more than just dudes.  They were his friends. 

He smiled at them.

“Pound it!”

[coffeecomicsgalore]

Unveiled Love

@smutember

Ao3

Chapter 19 – Yo-yo and the Baton

“What the fuck.”

That was all Adrien could say when he saw the most up to date news on the Ladyblog. Is the Ladynoir Ship Dead? There it was, a picture of Chat Noir with his arms wrapped around Multimouse and a few pictures of them holding each other and kissing before Marinette pulled away and ran off so he could chase after her. He scrolled throughout the most recent posts, ensuring no one else had photographed the aftermath, and he sighed with relief when he noticed that that was it.

Well, besides the whole, Who is this New Superhero? post, with tons of comments already on it. There were various speculations from a brand new superhero to Ladybug in disguise. When that one comment came up, Adrien’s eyes bugged out of his head, fearing that the connection would blow Marinette’s cover completely. The only other person who would have known Marinette as Multimouse was Ms. Mendelieve, yet, he wasn’t sure how “there” her mental stability was while recovering from the after effects of Hawkmoth’s control.

Then his eyes widened. While she wasn't known for spreading rumors, if Ms. Mendelieve did remember anything from that day, she would have remembered that Marinette was Multimouse, who was now two timing Adrien by making out with a superhero. He had to pray to all powerful beings that his bad luck wouldn't cause that to happen, because if it did, there would be no way to fix this whole thing without someone's reputation in the gutter. 

Biting the inside of his cheek, he thrummed his fingertips against the desk, trying to come up with a fool proof way of pushing this entire thing away. He needed to do something for Marinette. The last two days have been difficult for her with the disgusting rumor of “gold digging whore”, plus the backlash from trying to resolve it. Even Gabriel’s PR department was reluctant to help them, courtesy of his father, no doubt, so they had to do things their own way.

Luckily for them, Alya forgave them completely, but it was not without embarrassing the two of them with all the foolish (and oblivious) moments from the beginning of time. Once the torment was over, Alya sprung into action and prepared a press conference; had applied and approved to conduct a formal interview and photoshoot for this week’s publication of Le Monde, which included the front cover photo of Adrien and Marinette posing under a black veil with the subtitle Unveiled Love: The Secret Romance of Adrien and Marinette; and, started writing up social media posts with their corresponding pictures that would be scheduled to release to the public at perfect increments from both their accounts.

But even with all the help they received from the reporter, the news of Chat and Multimouse together on the blogger’s website was causing another headache to his already tired brain. 

He sighed as he stared at the screen, trying to come up with a way to save face. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a very disheveled Marinette barging through the door. Adrien shot up from his spot at the desk and turned towards her. Before he could say anything, Marinette raised her hand up with an index finger raised, and Adrien promptly pursed his lips. He watched as she made it to the fridge and opened up the bottle of wine, drinking it straight from the bottle.

“Rough day?” Adrien tried to make a joke, but it came out harsh. Marinette turned as she continued to chug the bottle, glaring daggers into his soul. Going out as Multimouse was Adrien’s idea; guess in hindsight, it wasn’t the best thought out plan.

When Marinette stopped drinking to gasp for air, she lashed out and stated the words on her mind. “I should tie you up to the Eiffel Tower with my yo-yo. Or even better! I should shove your baton up your ass as haul you over the firey pits of hell.”

Adrien placed his arms up in surrender and decided it was best to get a bath ready with calming scents. Marinette was too wound up to deal with anything at this moment, even a simple conversation to ask what she would like for dinner would probably be a bad thing. But he knew that in her current disarray, she would just have a liquid diet of wine, wine, and more wine, and he couldn't allow that to happen, especially if an akuma were to happen while she was drunk.

That would really show how terrible his bad luck is.

He watched as she continued to chug the bottle, removing it from her lips when she was done. She then tipped the bottle over to see if any more liquid would come out, almost willing for more alcohol to just slip out of it somehow. He slipped into the bedroom and sighed as he arrived unscathed, then made his way to their bathroom to turn the faucet on. He slipped in some lavender oils and lit some candles, then walked back out to their bed and sat on the edge. As he waited for the tub to fill, he slipped out his phone and placed an order for delivery pizza. Once that was done, he returned to the bath and turned it off, then slowly peered out the doorway to see where Marinette could be.

His face fell when he noticed the second open bottle of wine sitting on the table, and he could make out how far she had consumed by how tilted the bottle was in her hand. 

“Mari…” He tried to get her to stop, hoping the worry in his words would get her to see the current issue.

Marinette only looked up at him and shot back most of the wine, puckering her lips as the sweet drink surpassed her throat. She hiccuped then giggled, and started to sing out some random song that made Adrien scrunch up his nose.

Marinette tried to grab the bottle to pour the remaining amount out into a glass she had apparently set out, but Adrien quickly ran in and swooped it from her. He lifted it quickly, not realizing how little liquid there was, then shot Marinette a bewildered expression when he realized there was only a glass or two left.

“Two bottles?”

Marinette burped and giggled again. “Actu-lly. One an fourth? or was it a haffff.” Her words were slurred and Adrien could barely make what she was saying.

“You drank almost two bottles of wine in a half hour. How is that possible?”

“Dunno.” Marinette pressed her fingers to the cool table, then placed her forehead down. “I hate you,” she murmured, but there was no conviction in her voice. “Multmouse was with Chat! But Ladybug is with Chat. Chat cheated on Ladybug with Multimouse.” She began to sob. “But I’m Ladybug! I’m Multimouse! I’m screwed if they figure it out! I should have never gone out! I should have just stayed home like the responsible adult-slash-guardian I’m supposed to be and pretend the world is alright even when it’s not!”

Adrien could only watch as she cried on the table, no doubt the news of the “new” superhero making out with Chat Noir when she thought it was a quiet and secluded area without prying eyes.

It was as if the entire world was out to get them this week and Marinette’s resolve was surely destroyed by this point. He hated to see her like this; heck, he had never seen her like this, but even the best people have their breaking points sometimes.

Adrien pursed his lips as he thought of his next move. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her body, letting her know he was there and she was safe.

“Hey.” He whispered, prompting her to tilt her head a bit. She was then able to open up one eye and look up at him. “I ordered pizza and I just got the bath started for you. Why don’t you go take a bath and I’ll bring you a slice. We don’t have to talk about anything today. We are just going to relax and destress before we tackle this head on.”

Marinette groaned and closed her eyes again as anger began to bubble in her chest. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I’m the worst guardian ever!”

Adrien was about to say something when the akuma alert went off.

“Oh come on!” Marinette yelled out, screaming at the phone beside her. “One fucking night, Hawkmoth. You couldn’t just give me one fucking night to drink until I couldn’t remember my name anymore.” Marinette got up, grabbed the bottle from Adrien’s hand, and chugged the remaining bit of it before she shoved the bottle back in his hands. 

Adrien watched as she wiped the remnants of the wine from her lips. She stumbled as she stood straight up and Adrien could not believe what she was about to do.

“Don’t you dare transform. You are in no condition to go out like that.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. Hurry your ass up and get transformed. We have an akuma to get.”

“No.” Adrien spit out. “Not while you’re drunk.”

“Too fucking bad. Hawkmoth is a bitch and we need to capture that stupid butterfly. Tikki, spots on!”

Adrien covered his eyes as the pink flash filled the room. His jaw was slacked, utterly confused over Marinette’s complete disregard of her actions and still going out there mostly drunk. He watched as she jumped out the balcony door, not waiting a second to hear his response over something that she had said. 

Plagg hovered over to his chosen as he watched Ladybug yo-yo half-hazardly across the rooftops. “Kid. Protect her please. She needs it tonight.”

Adrien let out a defeated sigh. “Let’s go. Claws out.”

[spiritofchaoticdreams]

Into the Ladyverse

This is based on my Random Miraculous Thought, which in turn was based on Into The Spiderverse

________________________________________________________________

Marinette was practically skipping on her way to school. Sure, things haven't been the same since Lila came back, but she still had friends that believed in her! Friends like Kim, Alix, Max, Chloe, Nino, Kagami and the members of Kitty Section. They all stood by her side when Lila tried to ruin her reputation. Unfortunately, Lila's lies didn't just affect Marinette.

Nino and Alya had broken up about two months ago. Lila had lied about seeing Nino cheating on Alya with Marinette, causing a massive fight between the two girls. Poor Nino in tears at the end of it.

Lila cost Alix her spot as a contestant on a new skating show by claiming the pink haired girl had pushed her down the stairs. The producers believed Alix but they didn’t want to take the chance and told her that she was a liability.

When she walked through the gates of the courtyard she was expecting to hear Lila lying about something. What she wasn't expecting to see was a group of people that looked like her. Some of them looking like they had been cosplaying, was that a pirate?

Everyone in the courtyard was just staring at the group, Marinette could feel their eyes digging into her as she stood confused. She was tempted to just turn around and walk back home, but she knew this wasn't a dream. Tikki had made sure she woke up bright and early today because she had a big test in Mendeliev's class.

Suddenly a tiny version of herself flew up to greet her. "Hi! I am Mar'i! You must be Marinette! It's nice to meet you!", she cheered. Marinette felt Mar'i's eyes bore into hers. Mari's eyes were green, like emeralds, Marinette almost got lost in them when she noticed something.

'Her hair was on fire. Her hair was on fire! The flying child’s hair was on fire! Why were none of the other Marinette's freaking out?!', Marinette thought as she frantically dug out a water bottle from her purse. She was about to douse the fire out when a hand grabbed her arm. Her arms followed the hand to the face of a Marinette dressed like Jack Sparrow.

"Woah there! The lass's hair is 'sposed to do that!, Piratenette said.”Had me concerned first time I saw it too.”

"Okay everyone, I believe some introductions are in order.", A Marinette dressed in a priestess outfit spoke up. All the Marinettes stood up like the Radio City Rockettes. 

“Name’s Marin Dupain Cheng!” The only boy said, his appearance not that different from Marinette, his chin and nose where just more masculine. 

“I’m Temari Hino”, bowed the Marinette dressed as a Japanese priestess, aside from the wardrobe she and Marinette looked exactly alike, save for the freckles and the hair. Temari’s hair was really long, it reached past her butt.

“I be Captain Marinette Dupain! Call me Mary Read!”, Said the pirate dressed Marinette, she looked to be way older than Marinette, like in her mid 20s

“I’m Mariana Sancoeur,” Said the Marinette who looked like she stepped right out of a 80s biker gang.

“I’m Mar’i Grayson! I’m seven years old and I like ponies and-” Poor little Mar’i was cut off by “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng! But I prefer Nettie!”, said the Marinette dressed head to toe in a cat based outfit. Even her shoes had little black cats on them!

“Okay is that everyone? Okay what are you all doing here in my universe!”, Said an exasperated Marinette. 

“Ooh! I can answer that one!”, said Mary, “Thing is we were all taken from our worlds by a mysterious cloaked person! We ‘lmost had her, but that coward sent us all ‘ere.”

“Did we fail?”, came a reply from Mar’i, everyone’s hearts broke at seeing her big green eyes well up with tears. 

“NO!”, was all the replies from the Marinettes. “We just haven’t won yet!”, Came the eager cheer of Marin. “Soon enough we’ll all be back home with our families!”

“Oh Ladybug and Chat Noir can help you!”, came a shout from an excited Alya. Marinette had forgotten that the entire school was watching them.

Nettie asked, "Whose Chat Noir?"

Everyone looked at her, Alya then said, "He's one of the heros of Paris. Isn't he who inspired your outfit? 

Nettie smiles and says , "My outfit was based off of Black Lynx! He's Ladybug's partner in my universe! He's super cool! He’s the cat’s meow! He’s purrfect!   The way he saves the day and risks his life to save Ladybug!” Marinette watched as Nettie’s face began to resemble a tomato more than a person. 

‘Is this how I am with Adrien?’, Marinette wondered. 

“Paw-don me! But don’t you guys think we should be taking this to a more private place?”, Came an emotionless Mariana. Everyone nodded and began their trek to Marinette’s house. Marinette was stopped by a hand roughly grabbing her arm, she looked to its owner and saw Alya.

“Girl you gotta let me come! This could be the scoop of a lifetime!”, The redhead was grinning ear to ear. Marinette would’ve said yes, but the memories of Alya’s taunts and sneers began to ring in her ears.

“I’m sorry Alya, I’ve got to go.”,Marinette said as she pulled her arm away. She felt Tikki patting her hand as they walked right out the doors. Marinette’s eyes met the cold eyes of Mariana. 

“Lila Rossi made good on her promise?” Mariana asked, when Marinette nodded she laughed, “Yeah she tried that on me, I just threatened her back. She hasn’t said a word to or about me since.” Mariana stared at Marinette with a look that could freeze hell over, “Just remember that what they say means nothing to you. Lila’s just a black hole trying to eat up all your starlight” 

When Mariana walked off to join the others, Marinette was left confused by her words, ‘Was she trying to comfort me?’, she asked herself ‘Well it worked!’  She smiled and ran to catch up with the others.

_______________________________________________________________

(Author's note) SURPRISE! Two fics in one day!  May or may not continue this! Depends on what you guys think

Also,the name Black Lynx came from an anime I used to watch called Shugo Chara. One of the characters had a magical girl transformation and their powered up name was Black Lynx. The hero in my fic is not the same character, just me being a fangirl.  

Also, also, props to whoever got the reference of Temari Hino! (Just replace Temari witn Rei if you didn’t get it) I replaced Gemnette with a reference (Sue me!)

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life (21/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 2034 Chapter Summary: After talking with Alya and Nino, Marinette heads home to face her parents. She thinks about what she's going to have to do in the next few days, and realizes that she never turned off her Instagram when the Akuma struck. Adrien decides to leave the house. Author's Note: WOW the response I got from the last chapter was AMAZING! I wrote that reveal right after I came up with this headcanon and I'm glad people liked it (even tho a few want to fight mari) But...without further ado, let the adventures ensue!

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Look Back At The Live Stream

---

Alya knocked on the door to Marinette's home, and her parents answered within seconds. "Marinette!" Her mom gasped and pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?"

Marinette thought she was going to be okay when talking to her parents, but feeling her mom and dad's arms wrap around her like they thought they lost her, Marinette lost it and began to bawl again. "I'll see you later, Marinette. Let me know if you need to talk," Alya told her calmly, and turned to walk away from the house.

Marinette cried in her parent's arms. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys," Marinette told them.

Her mother pulled away slowly as they dropped the group hug. "Marinette, we aren't mad at you, if that's what you're worried about," She chuckled. "If anything, we are beyond proud of you for all that you do."

"Of course, we are scared out of our minds knowing this is what you do in your free time, but you seem to know what you're doing," Her father comforted. "And you seem to have a good partner."

Marinette smiled lightly. "Yeah, we work well together."

"Have you seen him since then?" Sabine interjected. "I want to make sure he's doing well, too," She said.

Marinette shook her head. "I...I ran off after it happened. We didn't know each other's identities, and it came as a bit of a shock. Nino's looking for him right now," Marinette summarized. "Can...can I take tomorrow off school? I need to think through everything, and I don't think I can handle all the questions from people at school. Or from the world, for the matter," Marinette pulled out her phone, and she shut her eyes tight. "I'm going to have to make a video about this."

"You don't have to," Tom told her. "It's your business. You don't have to share anything with anyone about this."

"That's true," Marinette nodded. "But I'm afraid if I don't, people will just keep asking questions."

Her parents listened to her talk herself through it, but Sabine did cut her off after a few minutes went by. "I'll call you out of school tomorrow, but you need to get some sleep. You've had a long, emotional day," Sabine said. The three hugged once more before all saying goodnight, and Marinette headed up to her room.

Marinette saw her room, back to normal, and everything in place as she left it. She grabbed her phone to see the low battery sign- and the live stream still on and looking at her puffy red eyes. Marinette gasped and quickly shut off the live stream before anyone could say anything about how she looked. Had it really been on all night? And though her mind was saying not to look back at the comments after she ran out, she did anyway.

She skipped the video until she saw the chaos begin when the Akuma ran off with her roof. For people outside of Paris, it must have been crazy and nervewracking for them to see something like this. That was the main reason Marinette read the comments; she wanted to see what her fans were saying before her fans found out about her identity.

did...did something just take off with her roof?

WHATTHEUFCK WAS THAT THING OH MY GOD

is this what happens in paris? idk after this livestream i blame gabriel agreste for all the shit paris goes through cancel him

ok i know not the best time buuuuut hearing adrien and marinette's concern for each other was adorable i ship them so hard

ARE MARINETTE, ADRIEN, AND HER PARENTS OK? I CAN SEE ALYA ON THE LADYBLOG BUT WHAT HAPPENED

its crazy to see these people not from Paris and their reactions to akumas. well now they know we aren't making this up and editing videos. Hawkmoth is the worst.

OH MY GOD GUYS LOOK AT THE VIDEO THAT WAS JUST POSTED VIOERGNJWS MARINETTE WHAT

Marinette sighed when she got to the comments about the video leaking, and Tikki flew out. "Oh, Tikki. What are we going to do?"

---

"Hello, class!" Mrs. Busiter walked in. She noticed two people missing from the front of her room, but she figured that was going to be the case by what she saw on TV yesterday. "Please pull out your books, and we will get started in just a minute," She directed and walked to where Alya and Nino were seated. "I take it they won't be here today?" She asked.

Alya shook her head. "Marinette won't be. She's going through a lot," Alya explained.

"I talked to Adrien last night. He'll be back tomorrow. We can take them their work," Nino added.

Mrs. Bustier shook her head. "No, that's okay. They should relax. It seems like a lot to go through, and I don't want to stress them more. It's nothing they can't catch up on," She explained.

Adrien wasn't sure how everything worked out so well. Was it a coincidence his father flew out of town right before the whole thing happened? He wasn't sure. But Nathalie stayed behind, and knew to be careful around Adrien. She called him out of school and promised not to tell his father, then left him alone to deal with everything.

"Nathalie?" Adrien called when he walked around the mansion.

"Yes?" She responded immediately.

Adrien took a deep breath. "I need to go out. I've been thinking all morning, and I need some air."

It was lunchtime, but Adrien couldn't eat. He was far too nervous; even Plagg refused to eat his camembert until Adrien ate. "Okay, please be careful," Nathalie nodded. "Call if you need anything, and be sure to tell Miss Dupain-Cheng I hope she's doing all right," Nathalie nodded.

"How did you-"

"You can't not go see her, Adrien," Nathalie said. "Be careful, and make sure to eat something," She told him, and Adrien nodded, then walked out of the house.

Plagg looked at Adrien from his hiding spot. "You really want to go talk to her already?" Plagg scolded. "Isn't it a little soon? Needy?" He snickered.

"I have to go see her. She's probably freaking out! There are fans all over social media talking about this. I'm overwhelmed for her, of course we're going," Adrien said and was headed straight towards the bakery.

As he walked, he scrolled through Twitter, looking at everything mentioning Ladybug.

I can't believe she had to keep being Ladybug a secret, that's crazy. I could never do it.

WOW, who would have thought Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug? I get Adrien as Chat Noir...but I'll never understand how *she's* a superhero. I could never stand her.

Just another reason to love Marinette! A super talented designer, funny person, seems like the nicest person you'd ever meet, AND she's Ladybug! What an amazing person.

Marinette seems super annoying. Why did she get picked to be Ladybug? Should have given it up as soon as she found out.

JAGGED @JaggedStone Guys! I love Marinette. She's fantastic, kind, and caring! It's so obvious that she's Ladybug that none of us noticed, because she's an everyday hero too! I can't believe some of the hate I'm seeing from you rockers, that's not cool. She and Adrien protect Paris every day!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC I know a lot has happened. I will be making one video about it. One video, and that's it. This is a very rough time for me. I'll be answering a few questions. Not every one sent in will be answered, but tweet me if you have any questions about Ladybug, and we'll see what gets answered.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC I never wanted my identity to be revealed. One video about Ladybug is all that I will release. I've had countless people/news stations/TV/radio reach out to me already, and I declined them all, as I will continue to do.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC We have no idea who Hawkmoth is, and this is a very dangerous time for everyone in Paris. I have declined interviews to keep everyone safe. Hawkmoth could dig deep and figure many things out, and that is why I will be making my own video. I know what I can answer safely and not put anyone in jeopardy. After that, no more talk of Ladybug from me <3

Adrien picked up his pace and was practically running to the bakery. He took a deep breath before walking in, and Marinette's mom dropped a loaf of bread on the floor when she saw him. "Adrien!" She smiled and rushed over to pull him into a tight hug. "I was worried about you. I know how Marinette is, and I was hoping you wouldn't be the same..." Sabine sighed. "How are you doing?"

"It's difficult," Adrien shrugged. "But I don't think I'm as bad as Marinette. I've had good and bad press my whole life, this is different. Can...can I go see her?" Adrien asked sheepishly.

"Of course," Sabine said. "Just up the stairs. The door should be unlocked. Try not to scare her; she's really jumpy right now," Sabine warned.

Adrien smiled lightly. "I'll make sure to knock, thank you so much," Adrien said and walked past Sabine to get up the stairs.

"Was that Adrien?" Tom peered out to his wife; she nodded in response. "I was wondering when he would show up."

Adrien walked up the stairs and knocked lightly before opening it. "M..Marinette?" He said quietly. "It's...Adrien?"

He opened the door fully and saw her sitting on the couch. "Hi," She turned to stand up. "I'm really sorry I ran away, I shouldn't have done that."

"No, it's okay. It was pretty shocking," Adrien confirmed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. It's really rough, and I've never been this emotional before. There are so many mixed opinions going around on social media. Everyone seems to be so happy you're Chat Noir, but with me, people hate it," She sniffled.

Adrien stood across from her and shook his head. "No one's talking about Chat Noir because he's not as important as Ladybug. I mean, you are Ladybug in and out of the suit! You do stuff she would do all the time. I'm drastically different from Chat Noir," Adrien said. "Did you see Jagged Stone's tweet?"

"That's a lie. Chat Noir is so important...why do you think I take his side in arguments about who's better?" She smirked. "And yes, I did. He actually called me. Penny and Jagged called me to make sure I was doing okay. Apparently, he's known I've been Ladybug for a while...Kind of crazy," She chuckled. "But I appreciated being able to talk to someone that's not my family or friends," Marinette explained. "What did your father say?"

Adrien laughed. "I got lucky. He flew out yesterday before it all happened and won't be home for a few days. Nathalie and I talked for about a half-hour, and she told me she had a suspicion the whole time. Thankfully, she called me out of school today, which was nice, but I can't wait for my father's wrath when he gets back," Adrien sighed.

Marinette looked down. "Do you remember when I thought your dad was Hawkmoth? I'm really sorry about that. I didn't understand why you were so hurt, and I would have been the same way."

Shaking his head, Adrien sat down. "No, if I were you, I would have thought the same thing. I mean, I had his book! Master Fu said things about it, how could you not think it was him?"

"Alya doesn't want to rule him out," Marinette said quietly. "Since Miraculous holders can be akumatized..." She trailed off, getting more uncomfortable.

"We can talk about this later, too. Maybe talk to Master Fu about what he thinks. But Plagg said he has some ideas on protecting my ring, so we should be okay for a while," Adrien explained. "Now, I saw your tweets about making a video."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Adrien nodded. "Would you like some help making the video? I could answer questions with you if you want."

Marinette smiled and nodded. "You know, Adrien, I would love that."

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 14 - Notifying

Author’s Note: Oh, this was a long week. I get to post today though!

Warning for strong language, 'fucking' and 'bullshit'.

Chapter Summary: Ladybug lets everyone know about the changes to the team.

First | Previous | Next

Ladybug and Chat Noir are sitting on the Eiffel Tower, looking over the city. They’ve finished their individual patrols and are sitting together as they think. It’s been a few weeks since Marinette spoke to Fu about Rena Rouge and Carapace, and Ladybug has been avoiding mentioning it to Chat Noir. He’ll be disappointed, she’s sure of it. He liked them, and he’ll finally realize that she’s a terrible leader. She can’t keep putting it off though. It’ll be December in a little more than a week and they’ll need assistance. He needs to know.

“Chat?” Ladybug doesn’t look to him, focusing intently on the Parisian rooftops instead.

“Yes?” He looks at her carefully, but she still doesn’t look at him. She’s wringing her hands and rubbing her wrist, thinking about what to say.

“I- We-... We can’t call on Rena Rouge and Carapace anymore-”

“Okay.”

“I know that they got the job done, and they were popular, but I just can’t- I mean-”

“Hey, Bug, it’s fine-”

“I know they didn’t do anything wrong, so it’s kind of wrong for me to kick them off the team, but I-” Her eyes well up with tears for a moment, but she blinks them away just as quickly as they show up.

He reaches out to her gently, “Hey-”

She clenches her hands into fists, staring into her lap, “I can’t- I wouldn’t be able to work with them- and I know that they didn’t do anything wrong at all, but I- I just-” She covers her face with her hands, her fingers digging into her skin. Her voice is muffled now, “I-”

He cuts her off, gently removing her hands from her face, “Bugaboo, it’s fine. If you don’t trust them anymore, then they don’t deserve a miraculous.”

“No! I should trust them! They- they didn’t do anything wrong. They’re good people. They were right. I-”

“Ladybug. Look at me.” She turns to him, fighting a losing battle against her eyes, which have welled up again, “If you don’t trust them, then I’m sure you have good reason.”

“I don’t! Just my own stupid-”

“Hey! What did I say about talking bad about my partner? Let’s start simply. Do you trust them anymore?” She shakes her head, looking ashamed and disappointed. He wants to address that, but one thing at a time.

“Would you be able to fight an akuma with them?”

She shakes her head again, looking down.

“Then it’s settled. They can’t have a miraculous anymore. They were temporary heroes as a test. They didn’t pass, so we move on to find others.”

“...But I should have tried harder… I just- I don’t know where I went wrong!”

“Are sure you went wrong?”

She pauses. This hasn’t occurred to her, or at least not for a while, and she gives the thought a moment’s consideration. That would mean that her classmates were wrong - that they abandoned and turned on her for no reason. That… that hurts. The tears finally spill over silently. 

It would also mean there’s nothing she can do to prevent this in the future. Nothing at all. She could be stuck in an infinite loop of pain and torn friendships.

No. Her old friends were right. It is the only thing that makes sense. She must have done something wrong. When she figures out what it was, she can finally correct it so that she doesn’t lose anyone again.

“Yes.” She speaks with certainty, but a seed has been planted in her mind. She won’t be the one to water it though - just looking at it hurts.

He sighs. Chat really doubts that’s the facts, but without knowing the situation, he has no ammo to fight her with, “What about Chloe?”

There’s no need to keep digging into the past right now.

“I’m not sure… I think the bee will move on too, but…” she trails off

“But what?”

“But, she’s actually working to improve. I think that if we really needed someone, we could go to her. I think she’s used the miraculous to grow as a person… and we should do our best to allow that to continue.” Her tears are gone now, and she’s staring out at their city again. He can tell she’s put some thought into this.

“I think that you’re right. She certainly seems to have grown.” Maybe a little distracted recently, but she’d told Adrien she’s planning something, “What about new heroes? Maybe your new friends?” He remembered a few days after Coolest Dad, he’d asked during patrol how she was doing and to his horror she’d started crying a little. It was only when he had seen her small smile that he’d realized that they were tears of joy. Apparently her friends had called her their friend when they didn’t know she was around.

She’d been just so happy that they actually considered her a friend, and as great as it had been to see her so delighted, it was saddening that it was such a surprise to her.

“I’m not sure I should just choose friends anymore…”

“If that’s what you think, then how do you want to choose?” “Fu said I should look for people who already act like a hero. So I guess I’ll be on the watch for good people and look into them from there?” She rests her head on his shoulder, “I’m not really sure?”

He nods, putting an arm around her as a cool breeze goes by. He waits a moment then asks, “Are you going to tell them that they aren’t heroes anymore?”

He knows it could upset her to even think about confronting her old friends, but he’s found that as she grows more tired with the cold she sometimes is too tired to dwell long on how she feels, it makes it easier for her to think about. Sometimes it makes her more emotional though, so baby steps.

She yawns, “I dunno’?”

Or, of course, she’s sleepy and entirely unable to focus.

“Ladybug?”

“Probably. I… don’t wanna’ surprise them bad.”

“‘Surprise them bad’? Interesting way to phrase it.”

“I meant… like… a bad surprise?” She hasn’t quite slipped into the full hibernating-ladybug mindset she gets during the winter, so her sleepiness is getting in the way of her attempts to convey her thoughts.

“I figured. You know what I think?” He looks over at her, watching her fight a losing battle against the cold. He’s purring quietly, but she probably hasn’t noticed.

“Wha’ you th- thee-” She trips over the enunciation before she gives up, knowing he’ll understand it.

“I think that you need to go home.” He boops her nose with his other arm. She wrinkles her nose at him.

“Noo I don’. I-” She’s cut off by a yawn, “... okay.”

She can’t see his victorious grin as she straightens, readying her yo-yo to head back home. He watches until she’s on less dangerous rooftops before he heads back to his house.

---

Marinette is looking droopy. She barely paid any attention in her classes, and so far her lunch has been untouched - her bag not even opened. Her friends are a little worried, but seeing as it’s around 0° (32℉) they figure she’s just sleepy. They aren’t planning on commenting on it in case she feels embarrassed. 

Then Marinette slumps further and instead of falling over onto Claude she starts to fall the other way off of the table.

“Woah! Hey, wrong way, Mari!” Claude grabs her gently and has her rest on his side. She mumbles something about rules.

The group misunderstands, and Allan says, “ ‘Nette, we’re not in class. It’s not against the rules to fall asleep at lunch.”

She tired girl doesn’t say anything more, and the conversation moves on. As she fights against the cold, she thinks back to the conversation she had with her partner last night.

She really should get around to talking to Chloe, and Nino… and Alya. They deserve to know.

Chloe won’t be so bad, but the other two… those are scary. Those are terrifying. They’ll be upset, they’ll hate her even more. 

She wants to postpone it as long as possible, but time has probably run out. By early December she’ll be running mostly on ladybug instincts, and won’t be able to reliably convey the message well. Chat can’t know who they are due to secret identity reasons, so it’s up to her.

She probably should have done it last week, or the week before that. At this point she’s barely able to stand straight and is already forgetting to eat and drink. She’ll have to go after school.

She suddenly thinks the school day should be longer.

Claude nudges her gently. She glances up at him blearily, “Sorry to bother you, Mari, but you should probably eat something. That’s what lunch is for! You know, there was a mathematician who couldn’t afford lunch-”

Allegra cuts in, “Don’t-”

“-he could binomial.” He shoots a mischievous grin at Allegra and she sighs defeatedly.

Marinette has finally opened her lunch box and is eating her lunch quietly. They had to remind her to eat. Would they be mad?

Probably not, because the group had been able to move onto their conversation. Then again, they’d had to pause the conversation in the first place. 

She’d mark this as a thing she only maybe messed up. 

---

Ladybug lands on Chloe’s balcony, standing for a moment before knocking on the window to get the girl’s attention. She glances up and does a double take when she realizes who exactly is at her door. She stands and rushes over quickly, ushering the hero inside.

“Ladybug! What are you doing here?!” Chloe offers the heroine a seat, “Do you want me to call up something?”

“No, no. I just needed to talk to you. It’s about Queen Bee…” Chloe’s room is certainly warmer than the outside, and Ladybug definitely appreciates that.

“Yes?” She sounds nervous as she takes a seat across from Ladybug.

“We… I- There’s some changes being made to our back-up heroes. Rena Rouge and Carapace are retired. That much is final. They… they won’t be returning to the team. Ever.”

Chloe can hear the grief in her role model’s voice and wonders what led to this. It’s not her place to ask though, so all she says is, “I’m sorry.”

Ladybug shakes her head slightly, “Anyways. Queen Bee is a different case. I do think that the bee miraculous will be going to another eventually, but I can see that it has allowed you to grow as a person, and I’m proud of you. I think that, if I ever needed the bee - whether before I find a new holder, or if something happens once I- we do - then I would go to you. I think that you are worthy of the bee miraculous.” She’s barely finished speaking when she gets tackled. Chloe is hugging her and has tears in her eyes.

“Thank you.”

“What?” She’d just taken away one of the few things that Chloe really wanted, and she’s being thanked?

Chloe backs off, clearing her eyes, “It means a lot that you’re- you’re proud of me. You think I’m worthy of a miraculous, even if you are moving onto someone else.”

“I, um, thank you for understanding.” This went so much easier than she thought, especially considering it’s Chloe she’s talking to. They walk back to the balcony.

“Actually, Ladybug? Could I ask you a favor? Or like, two favors?”

“What kind of favors?” This could end poorly after all it would seem.

“Um, sometime - it doesn’t have to be soon, just when it works for you - could I maybe… say goodbye to Pollen? If it’s stupid to ask then-”

“No, that’s fine. I understand. When I get the chance, I’ll try to stop by.”

“Thank you. Pollen just…” The blonde trails off, but Ladybug understands. If she had to be away from Tikki for so long and then found out Tikki was going to someone else…

“And the second one?” The unknown condition continues to worry her.

“It’s… more complicated. I’m working on something, and I think if you were involved, it could be… better? I get it if it’s utterly ridiculous to ask of you because I don’t know anything super specific, but I’d appreciate it.”

That’s vaguely ominous, but Ladybug is somewhat curious, “I think you should talk to me when you have information. We can figure it out then.”

Chloe nods, and Ladybug swings away.

Chloe texts Adrien excitedly, she needs another Ladybug fan to freak out with. Ladybug is proud of her. 

---

Ladybug taps lightly on the window, as she hangs outside of Nino’s room. He looks over and smiles when he sees who it is. He opens the window, leaning out slightly to talk to her.

“Dude! I didn’t know there was an akuma! Need some Carapace?” He looks so excited and her heart sinks further.

“Actually, no. Um, this is about Carapace, but… it’s not what you’re thinking.” She’s nervous, but he doesn’t seem to notice it.

He looks confused for a moment then elated shock takes over, “Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Are you giving me my miraculous permanently?!” 

Oh. Oh no. She thought it couldn’t get worse, but now it has. He looks so overjoyed and it’s all about to come crashing down. She can’t back down now though.

“No. Um, you’re not going to like it.” 

His face falls, and he looks concerned, “Oh. Is something wrong?”

“Yes. Chat and I-” Lies. Chat only followed what you suggested. Don’t drag him into this, “We’ve been reconsidering those that we call on as temporary holders, and… we don’t think Carapace can be on the team anymore. I’m sorry, but this- this is final.”

His earlier expression has been flipped entirely. He looks crushed, on the verge of tears, “What? Why?” His voice is shaky and she has to force her voice to be level.

Look what you’ve done now. You’re hurting him. And why? For yourself? You messed up and now you’re scared of facing anyone who reminds you of that? Are you happy now?!

“It’s complicated, but this is why we didn’t give the miraculous out permanently at first. Nothing was set in stone. I’m sorry.”

You stupid, wretched fool. Are you really sorry about this? Or is this what you wanted all along?

“Oh. Okay. I’m sorry. Thanks for letting me know.” He turns, and begins to shut the window. Something occurs to her.

“Nino?” He turns back and just the look on his face hurts her soul, “Could you not tell A-Alya yet? I’d prefer she find out in person…”

He nods sullenly, quiet, and shuts the window completely. It’s just about dark out and Ladybug wants to go home and just break down.

But she has one more to go.

Alya.

---

Ladybug sits on a rooftop parallel to Alya’s for some time. She really doesn’t want to do this, but she doesn’t really have a choice anymore. The alternative is for Alya to find out tomorrow at school and that will definitely cause an akuma. 

No, she has to do this now.

She knocks on the window, Alya eagerly opens it up, “Ladybug! Are you here for an interview? In need of a fox in your life maybe?”

“No.” Alya gets a concerned look on her face at the flat tone in the heroine’s voice.

“Oh, what is it then?”

“It’s about you. You being Rena Rouge.”

The monotony of her voice keeps Alya from getting too excited, but there’s some hope in the journalist’s voice when she asks, “Are you giving my miraculous to me?”

Ladybug shakes her head, “No. You- You can’t be Rena Rouge anymore.”

“What? Like my name right? You don’t mean…”

“Alya Césaire, you can not be a holder of a miraculous anymore.” Her voice is lifeless, and it’s taking everything she has to keep it that way.

Alya tears up, “What do you mean?! What did I do wrong?!”

Nothing. I’m just a selfish jerk.

“It’s just the facts. We only had the miraculouses out temporarily in case someone didn’t work out. That’s what happened here.”

“No!” Alya gets in her face, shouting as tears stream down her face, “No! Being a hero has always been my dream! I deserve to know why! I was a good hero, you can’t just tell me that ‘this is the way it is’ you hear me?! I want some fucking answers!”

“The factors that led to you being chosen have changed.”

“Bullshit! I deserve real answers! This isn’t fair to me!” It isn’t. I know it isn’t and I’m sorry, but I can’t compromise my secret identity.

She isn’t going to hold up the facade much longer, she feels everything welling up inside her, and chokes out an, “I’m sorry.” before she goes to the roof. She continues suppressing it, waiting there a few moments in case an akuma comes, before she turns in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. It’s dark now, and she’d tired, cold, and an emotionally exhausted mess. She just wants to rest. She just wants her partner.

She could call him, but she doesn’t want to bother him, so she’ll just wait at the tower. If he comes out he’ll find her there and won’t be forced into dealing with her idiocy. 

She sits on their high platform and curls into a ball with her head in her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs. Now that she’s not near Alya, she’s allowed to cry-

Wait. No. No, she’s not. That’s the rule. She forgot again

You dense imbecile.

 Rule #1: Don’t cry.

 Stupid stupid stupid stupidstupidstupid…

The hateful train of thought keeps running through her head, gaining steam and making her want to cry even more.

She really hopes Chat will show up.

She really hopes he won’t.

She sits alone like that for another moment, the wind and cold blowing past the distraught girl as she put all her effort into not crying.

So focused on her task, she doesn’t notice the soft footfalls approaching her.

“Oh, Bug.” The voice sits next to her, but she doesn’t register it, “My Lady, you could have told me. You didn’t have to do this alone.” She’s pulled into a tender hug, and finally notices her partner next to her.

“K-kitty?” Her voice breaks with his heart. He can hear the pain in her and wishes she would allow herself to acknowledge it. She’s holding back her tears and her grief and it’s not doing her any good.

“Ladybug. You talked to Rena and Carapace didn’t you?” He’d figured it out shortly after Chloe had stopped texting Adrien. If Ladybug had talked to Chloe, then it only made sense that the next two would follow. He understands he couldn’t have talked to them in her place, but he could have been nearby for support.

She didn’t need to carry the world alone.

“Mon minou, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The heartbreak in her voice is terrible, and he wishes it wasn’t a familiar sound.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He hugs her tighter, as if that can single-handedly fix everything. 

If only it were so easy.

“I do. I’m a terrible no-good ab-” Chat cuts her off. 

“No. We’ve been over this. You are my amazingly talented and beautiful partner. ‘No-good’? What do you call all you’ve done for the city then? ‘Terrible’? We looked up the definition, and ‘distressingly bad’ does not describe you. Ladybug, you are many things, but you are not those things.”

He can see the tears welling up in her eyes, the way she tries to fight them off.

“Do you know what else we’ve been over? You-” He pokes her gently, “Are allowed to cry. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

That does it, she finally returns the hug as she clings to him desperately while she sobs quietly. He holds her soothingly, doing his best to comfort her.

When she falls quiet as the chill finally gets to her, he reminds her that she should head back to her home. She nods, going on her way as he heads to his own house.

---

Author’s Note: Oh boy, she did it! She faced them, even if it was for very little.

It would seem Chloe is planning something. Who knows!

The next few chapters will certainly be interesting, to say the least. Also, we're getting into winter!

The writer's block has finally gotten to me. I'm chapters ahead, so it won't slow updates down, but that paired with the very long and tiring week I've had has really slowed my pace. Again, it won't slow updates, but I'd really appreciate any comments you have for me! Thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed in the comments below! Any comments really, I love seeing the notification!

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[2manyfandoms2count]

You can count on me (I will be there for you)

Another week, another YCCOM chapter! It’s a long update as well, feat Alya, fake-Adrien, oblivious and melodramatic Marinette, and Chat Noir (who is also a little oblivious because it’s fun) 👀

Hope you enjoy! xx

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | AO3

---

Chapter 5

Marinette doesn’t really pay attention during the bridal party toasts. She’s lost in her thoughts, giggles when others seem to, and drowns the very present realisation that she might be sitting two chairs away from her blackmailer in champagne.

She doesn’t notice how fidgety Alya is during her Maid of Honour speech, or her sideway glances when she makes puns that earn her eye squints from Adrien. Those go unnoticed, too.

She temporarily jolts back to reality when Adrien wraps an arm around her waist and leans his head on her shoulder during a very emotional part of Nino’s speech (or so she assumes, from the audience’s aws). And then, again, when the warmth leaves, as he stands up and takes the mic.

At that moment, she can’t help but look up to him and his hypnotising smile. He’s holding her hand as he speaks, and it feels like he’s talking exclusively to her as his eyes bore into hers. Unfortunately, she’s too lost in his green glittering gaze to make out what he’s saying.

She can tell it must be beautiful from the oohs and aahs she hears in the crowd (out of her peripheral vision, Sabine wipes her tears away, and so does Tom - there is no such emotional scene on the Agreste side), but as much as she tries to, she just cannot bring herself to listen. There’s something about Adrien's eyes that’s so familiar. She drowns in their tenderness. She can’t put her finger on it, but something hurts a little inside of her at that moment, there’s a yearning for something that she can’t deny. So much so, that it pulls tears out of her eyes as Adrien tells her, for the whole country, perhaps the whole world, to hear “I love you, Marinette Agreste. As Chat Noir and Ladybug say, it’s you and me against the world. And I am beyond honoured to be on your team.”

She isn’t sure if it counts as bad taste.

At the end of his speech, she gets up, pulls him into a hug, and nuzzles against his neck, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. He tilts her chin up gently to check on her, smiling lovingly at her, and she kisses him.

It’s what a good wife would do.

And that’s what she’s supposed to be today. Not a scheming superhero, waiting for the right opportunity to bolt bad guys behind jail bars, instead of making the most of her wedding day. Not a woman who sees the almost-too-perfect execution of a play she helped stage, which makes her question if the male lead won’t end up broken-hearted by the end of it.

After they’re done eating the delicious lunch, the catering of which was supervised by none other than Tom and Sabine, she drags Adrien off towards a balcony with a very convincing giggle (the champagne, she supposes). Adrien follows her eagerly before he notices that he forgot his phone at the table. She tells him to hurry as she steps outside. The cool air does wonders to sober her up.

Chat Noir makes it to their meeting point before Adrien does, a little out of breath. Marinette smiles at him. This will be quick. It has to be, for Adrien’s sake.

“Hey, guys, sorry to keep you waiting.” The groom says as he carefully closes the door behind him.

“No worries, dude.” Chat Noir smiles warmly. “Well done on the speech, it was really beautiful.”

“Well, anything for Marinette, right?” Adrien turns towards her and she blushes.

“Beautiful speech indeed.” She clears her throat. “Unfortunately,” well, maybe not for me, since I couldn't highlight any phrase to save my life she thinks, “we’re not here to delve into it right now.”

“Is everything alright?” Adrien frowns.

“Well…” Marinette scrunches her nose and shares a glance with Chat Noir. “We’ve had news on the blackmail situation.” Better to bite the bullet now. They’ll have plenty of time to chat later.

“Oh. Bad?” Adrien bites his lip.

“It’s really too early to tell,” Chat Noir replies. “But we have a lead, and we have to act fast.”

“I see.” Adrien nods. “How fast, exactly?”

“We have to take a quick trip somewhere. We’ll be back before you know it, don’t worry.” Marinette says. “Perks of having a Miraculous.”

“Then that’s no problem, girl!” Adrien smiles. “I’ll hold down the fort while you two are gone.”

Marinette frowns. He doesn’t usually call her “girl”. That’s more of an Alya thing.

She doesn’t catch Chat Noir shooting a thunderous stare at Rena Rouge, hiding behind curtains two windows down. The foxy lady grimaces sheepishly and mouths a “sorry” in his direction.

“Er… Sorry, I think my conversation with Alya, and then her speech, rubbed off on me.” Adrien scratches the back of his neck.

“Oh, right. Yeah, that happens to me too, sometimes.” Marinette shakes her head with a small smile, and both Chat and Rena let out a small sigh of relief as she changes the subject. “Anyway, our goal is to make it back before the first dance, so you won’t be alone for too long. I’m going to get Rena Rouge to join you, to make my absence more inconspicuous.”

“Sounds good.” Adrien and Chat Noir nod.

“So I just need to speak to Alya, and then Max before we go.” Marinette strokes her chin.

“I can go and get Alya!” Adrien’s hand shoots up, almost brushing against Chat Noir’s. The latter jumps away, afraid that the illusion might break.

“That would be great, thanks.” Marinette smiles softly.

He disappears off before she can tell him how grateful she is that he is so understanding, but not before he can shoot her a very longing look, one that reminds her of the way he used to look at her sometimes back in collège.

She sits down on the bannister, breathing in and out deeply as her fear of breaking his heart strikes again. Chat Noir joins her, taking her right hand in his.

“Hey, how are you holding up?” He asks, gently tracing circles on the back of her hand.

“Okay, I guess.” She shrugs. “Just getting a little antsy about all this. You have the Miraculouses?”

“Yep.” He pats his pocket, making it jingle slightly.

“Good.”

Her leg bounces as they wait. She seems more on edge than her partner had anticipated, but it could be because of the great performance Alya provided. As perfect as fake-Adrien’s way of looking at Marinette would have been in public, he thought it was a little over the top in this instance. And anyway, when had Alya ever seen him look so love-struck?

“Hey Chaton?” Marinette breaks her tense silence and his thoughts.

“Yes?”

“You don’t suppose Adrien might… love me, do you?” Her eyes are wide with worry, and Chat doesn’t know whether to burst out laughing, hug her, or let the melt-inducing smile he can feel coming on invade his face. None of this transpires as he stares back at her blankly, lips only slightly twitching.

“It’s just… the toasts. I didn’t catch most of it, but his feelings looked so… real.” She breathes out.

Chat Noir lets himself laugh. “You do realise that a couple of hours ago, you were worried he would bail, and now you’ve done a full 180° by thinking he might be too invested, right?” He teases.

“I know, I know, it’s stupid, right?” She lets out a tense chuckle as she shakes her head. “You’d think I could read my husband better than that.” The cheekiness of her small smile isn’t as strong as it could be, but Chat Noir will take it all the same.

“He’ll be fine, I paw-mise.” He smiles tenderly, considering whether telling her that her second reading isn’t far off at all would be saying a little too much, or if he could get away with it.

He doesn’t have time to reach a conclusion. There’s a small knock on the window pane, and Alya lets herself out on the balcony. Marinette gets up and he follows suit.

“Hey, girl! Adrien said you were looking for me?” Alya’s pace is breezy as she walks towards them, until her eyes land on him. She stops in her tracks with an audible gasp. “Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

He rolls his eyes at her dramatic entrance, but smirks as she comes to stand beside him. “Hi, Ladyblogger.”

“Hey Alya, thanks for joining us.” Marinette clears her throat. “I’m going to cut to the chase. We’ve got a bit of a situation, which is why you and Chat are here.”

“Is that so?” Alya crosses her arms behind her back. She gently nudges Chat, who discreetly extends a hand towards her. Alya places the necklace in it, and he subtly slides it back into his pocket.

“Yes.” Marinette takes a deep breath and wrings her hands as she mentally prepares herself to give her best friend the information she’s been looking for for almost as long as she’s known her, completely oblivious to the silent hand off taking place in front of her. “Alya, I have something important to tell you. I’m really sorry for not telling you earlier, but I swore not to tell anyone. I promise that I really didn’t want to keep this secret from you, I-”

“This sounds serious, are you ill, or something?” Alya cuts her in her rambling, doing her best to act clueless and concerned, even though Chat Noir can tell that she’s practically buzzing with excitement.

“No, it’s nothing like that, don’t worry. It’s pretty small, all things considered.” She pauses. “I’m… I’m Ladybug.” She whispers gently, wincing as she anticipates her best friend’s reaction.

“WHAT?!” Alya’s exclamation is a little too loud, her smile a little too wide for it to be completely genuine. Chat Noir elbows her ribs to remind her to tone it down. She makes up for the lack of volume with extra theatrics. “You mean, all this time, I was so close, and you never even gave me a hint?” She clutches her chest. “You watched me dig around, for years, knowing that I was going in a completely wrong direction?” She gasps. “You even mislead me on some of my paths!”

“I know, I know, I’m so sorry!” Marinette grimaces.

“I feel so stupid!” Alya fake sobs, bringing a hand to her forehead. “What else have you been hiding from me all this time? That Chat Noir is actually Adrien?”

Marinette stares at her blankly for a second, before bursting out laughing. Chat Noir knows it must be nerves, but he can’t help but feel a little offended that the thought has tears streaming down her face, struggling to catch her breath. He shoots another death glare at Alya (what are you playing at?), to which she answers by a shrug and a smirk (sometimes things are best hidden in plain sight).

“No, I’ve seen them together, so it isn't possible.” Marinette wheezes, standing straight and nudging Chat Noir. “Can you imagine, though? That would have made everything so much easier.” She wipes her tears and takes Chat Noir’s hand in hers. “I don’t know who Chaton is. We’re waiting until Hawkmoth is defeated to drop his mask. Which actually might come about a lot faster than we thought it would.”

“I see.” Alya squints suspiciously. “By the way, you two seem pretty chummy, care to explain yourself, Mrs. Agreste?”

Marinette winces. It’s one thing being called Marinette Agreste, but it feels a lot weirder being called Mrs Agreste. “Well, see, Adrien and I are just a temporary arrangement.” She pauses. “He knows, and he's fine with it, though. I think. Anyway, you would’ve found out eventually, but I’m telling you now because I actually need you for something.” She changes the subject to escape further inquiry.

She quickly goes over the circumstances of their speedy wedding, leaving out none of the details regarding the blackmail and her suspicions. Alya regularly peppers in some gasps and “no!”s, convincingly pretending all of it is brand new information to her. Her reactions become more genuine as Marinette talks her through their plan to go and investigate the Agreste Mansion while the coast is clear.

“We haven’t told Adrien where we’re going, so he’ll be staying here.” Marinette exposes.

“Shocker.”

“But we’d need you to make sure my absence goes unnoticed. I’m giving you free rein, you can do whatever you feel necessary.” She nods towards Chat Noir, who takes out the Fox necklace and gives it ceremoniously to Alya.

“Adrien is going to be hiding out in a room and I can do anything to make it credible that you two are together?” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively. “I thought I was supposed to give you a gift today.” She grins.

Marinette’s cheeks heat up at the insinuation.

“Just remember our- THEIR parents are around, as well as the press so… Saying Marinette and Adrien are off for a nap might be sufficient, no need to be over the top.” Chat winks.

Alya looks at him inquisitively, and mouths “our?”. He shakes his head. He can slip up, too. Marinette doesn’t pick up on any of this, again. Chat isn’t sure how he feels about her being so absentminded. If the situation wasn’t as urgent as it was, he’d probably make his identity one of her wedding presents. It would relieve the stress, no doubt.

Unfortunately, the situation is what it is, and they can’t afford to lose any time when they're running on such a tight schedule. Besides, he’s afraid the revelation might put her off her game even more, at this point.

“Wait, so if I’m in your room with Adrien,” Alya puts her hand up like they’re still in school, “and you’re at the Agreste Mansion… Who’s watching our pals Gabe and Nath?”

“Nobody, why?” Marinette frowns.

“I just think it might be a good idea to have them surveilled in case they try to make a getaway. You never know what you might find.” She rubs her chin pensively. “Something in your whole blackmail story smells kind of fishy.”

“You think so?”

“Well, let’s put it this way; what could Gabriel Agreste possibly gain from blackmailing you?”

Her question is met by silence. Marinette shares a glance with Chat Noir, before looking at her feet. Once again, she regrets how quickly the events have taken place since she received the first letters. Had it not been so rushed, maybe Chat and her would have settled down for a minute, to consider that question. Whoever the blackmailer was, he must have wanted something.

“Do you think he might be in contact with Hawkmoth?” Chat Noir’s voice comes out as a strained whisper.

“I wouldn’t rule out that possibility.” Alya continues carefully. “I mean, if he leaked your identity to the press, or used any public communication to get the info out to Hawkmoth and Mayura, then I assume you’d give up your Miraculous, right? And the city would probably grant you some kind of protection for your outstanding services during the years; if not the Mayor himself, then at least the citizens. You saw how quick they were to help on Heroes’ Day, all those years ago.”

“Right.” Marinette mutters.

Seeing that her friend is not going to elaborate more, Alya continues. “So, my bet is that whoever’s blackmailing you, be it Gabriel or somebody else, is somehow in contact with Hawkmoth, and is standing by to send him your identity if you don’t cooperate. Hand him the element of surprise on a silver plate. What does the bastard want?”

“Nothing.” Marinette whispers, hiding her head in her hands. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice earlier.”

She takes a deep, shaky breath as her heart rate picks up.

This is taking proportions she didn’t foresee. Part of her feels like panicking, what a disaster of a wedding, the other reminds her that even if everything had gone differently, she probably still wouldn’t have felt ready.

She feels Chat Noir stroking her back soothingly, and she straightens up. She’s not alone. She’s got him, Alya, Adrien, and a whole dormant team of superheroes a few feet away. They can do it, together.

“Thanks for your insight, Alya.” She takes her hand and squeezes it. “I think I- we" she glances at Chat Noir, "were a little too close to the board to see the whole situation.”

“Always happy to help, girl.” Alya smiles back.

“Chaton? We’re going to need back up.” Marinette turns towards Chat Noir.

“One step ahead of you, my Lady.” He grins as he holds up the Turtle bracelet and the Dragon necklace.

Marinette smiles at him gratefully. He sees her face change as the plan she'd come up with earlier shifted in her head to take the new elements into account, her eyes squinting to see inside the room, nose scrunched what he likes to call the Lucky Charm way.

His Lady is back, and if her confident smile as she explains the first steps of the plan says anything, she’s ready to kick some butt.

[mommadon]

Adventurer: Chapter 2

Say hi on Ao3!

Chapter Two

There were fourteen missed calls on Adrien’s phone when he finally dropped his transformation and dared to look. Two from Nathalie, one from his bodyguard, and eleven from Kagami.  He sighed. He was going to feel the consequence of his foray to the bakery.  Still, he didn’t feel bad about it, not one bit.  As he showered and climbed into bed, he couldn’t stop smiling. 

He figured he’d put out a few fires before bed, so he quickly texted Kagami:

Adrien: So sorry about today.  I swear I wasn’t trying to make fun of you.  Ended up trapped in one of Adventurer’s carts and had to walk home.  Can we talk tomorrow?

It was well after midnight, so he wasn’t surprised when she didn’t respond.  Still, he knew a big conversation was inevitable, and he’d have to make it face-to-face.  Ladybug’s words to him rung in his ears… you can’t be two people at the same time… so that begged the question: who did he really want to be?  Were Adrien and Chat Noir two different people?  He had never really thought that much about it.  He felt free as Chat Noir.  Adrien’s life was so controlled and intense.  But he liked himself as Adrien as well—he knew he was a good person, and that had to count for something.  

He shook his head to clear these way-too-deep-for-this-late thoughts, bid goodnight to Plagg, and postponed any further pondering for morning.

*

When Marinette came down the stairs for breakfast Sunday morning, her parents immediately knew something was off. Of course Marinette was smiling, of course she ate breakfast and made pleasant conversation.  But something was off.  

“Marinette, dear, are you sure everything is alright?” Sabine asked for the third time.  

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Yes, everything is just fine.  I think I’ll go for a walk though.”

“Do you want any company?”

“No, I just want some quiet time. Unless you need any help here?  I can certainly stay—”

“We’re fine, sweetheart,” Tom insisted.  “Why don’t you take your sketch book?”

“That’s a good idea,” she said, a bit absently.  A few minutes later, Marinette struck out on the streets of Paris, armed with her sketch book and pencil.  

She didn’t come home for hours. “Who should we call?”  Tom said, nervously pacing the bakery floor.  

“Oh Tom, there���s no need to panic. Our daughter is more than capable of getting home by herself, and she’s only been gone a few hours.  She said she needed some quiet time.  Give her space.  She knows we love her.” “But Sabine, are you sure she’s safe?”

“Of course.  She had a hard time yesterday with Adventurer,” Sabine consoled, stroking her husband’s broad shoulders.  “We know how much she cares for Luka.  It must have been torturous for her to see him akumatized, and then to have to go after him herself—she deserves a little bit of time to think through things—”

“That’s my fear,” Tom said, pacing again, “She’s now shown us she’ll fly straight into danger without even thinking…”

Sabine laughed a little.  “If you’re so worried, why don’t you call her and find out where she is.  She has her phone on her, you know.”

“No, no,” Tom said brusquely, accelerating his pacing, “I don’t want to invade her privacy.”

Sabine laughed harder this time. “Whatever you say, dear.  I’ll be in the office, preparing orders for next week.”

*

“Adrien!” He looked up at the sound of his name, but inwardly groaned when he saw the smiling face that had called it.  “Look!  Our photos were highlighted in Paris Teen Weekly!”  Lila stuffed a copy of the magazine in his face.  “How should we celebrate?  How about dinner tonight?  I know this adorable little bistro and ever since I saved his vanilla bean farm from being sold to hippopotamus hunters, the chef and I have been very close.”

“Uh—” Adrien could barely breathe, she was so close.  

“Excellent!” she squealed, squeezing his arm. “Give me your phone so I can—I mean you can make the reservation. I don’t like to take advantage of our friendship.” She talked so fast that he couldn’t quite make sense of what she had said.  All he knew is that she was digging her hands into his pockets looking for his phone, and he felt horribly uncomfortable.

“Hey Adrien,” a gentle voice said from behind, that brought both him and Lila up short.  Lila’s hands flew back to herself, and Adrien released a gasp of relief.  

“Marinette!” He said, prying away from Lila’s clutching fingers.  “Did you have a good weekend?”

She gave a little half smile and said, “Just fine, thanks.”  Adrien didn’t know why, but he wasn’t sure he believed her.  They started walking lazily toward the classroom. “I have something for you,” she said. She opened her backpack and pulled out three pink and white boxes of passionfruit macarons.  “I’m afraid they’re a day old.  Chat Noir and I made these for you on Saturday afternoon, but when Adventurer got akumatized, he forgot them.”

Adrien feigned surprise. “Chat Noir made those?  With you?”  

Marinette nodded.  “Yeah, he said he was having a rough day, so he spent a few hours in the bakery and my dad taught him how to make macarons.  He said he wanted to try passionfruit because you had recommended it once.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I did do that, huh?  Well, thanks!  What’s Chat Noir like anyway?  Super cool?”

Marinette raised an eyebrow.  “I thought you two were friends.”

“Oh, oh yeah, of c-course we are.  He’s a nice guy.  I was just wondering what you thought.”

“It was fun,” Marinette responded with a much more convincing smile.  “Usually he’s pretty self-absorbed, but Saturday, he was…”

“Was what?”

But whatever Chat Noir was, Adrien didn’t find out, as the bell rang and Marinette’s eyebrows few to her hairline.  “Oh no! And I was actually on time today!”  She pressed the boxes of macarons into Adrien’s hands and bolted for her seat.  He chuckled to himself.  He couldn’t place his finger on it, but she was different today.  

*

“GIRL!” Alya hissed seconds after class dismissed for lunch.  “You talked to Adrien!  Without tripping over yourself!”

Marinette rolled her eyes.  “No, I didn’t… I just brought cookies to a friend.”

“Wait, don’t you like him anymore?”  Marinette stole a quick glance at the blonde still packing his things up at his desk.  He was talking to Nino.  Just then, he looked up and their eyes met.  One corner of his mouth lifted and his eyes softened.  Her stomach flipped and her pulse quickened.  

“Oh Alya, I don’t know--”  Alya laughed at the exchange, but Marinette held up a hand to her, “—but he’s in love with Kagami.  Kagami’s so cool, I just don’t compare.”

Alya shook her head.  “You’re unbelievable.  I mean, you’re… you know… and you still think you don’t compare.”

Marinette grabbed Alya’s wrist, “Shh!”

Alya just laughed lightly.  “I know, I know.  We talked about it.  I promise I’ll be good.”  But Marinette’s eyes still dropped and her shoulders sagged.  “Are you ok?”  Alya pressed.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Marinette said vaguely as the two walked out the door toward the locker room.  

“Do you want to get lunch with me?”

“Nah, I’m not super hungry, I think I’ll just go for a walk.  Get some quiet time, you know?”  

“Well, at least make sure you eat something.”

“Yeah,” Marinette said with a little shrug.  “Maybe I’ll do that.”  As Marinette strolled away, Alya’s eyebrows knit in concern.  Now the text she had received from Marinette’s mom on Sunday afternoon made more sense.  Alya pulled out her phone to re-read:

Sabine Cheng: Would you keep an eye on Marinette for me?  I don’t know what, but I think something’s up.

Alya: sure thing, Ms C.  

Now Alya added to the conversation:

Alya: I see what you mean, Ms C.  do u think this is about adventurer?

It took a few minutes to get a response, so Alya got some food at the cafeteria and sat at the table where Nino and Adrien were still talking.  She tuned them out.

Sabine Cheng: I don’t know.  Come to think of it, it started a few weeks ago.  

Alya wracked her brain.  A few weeks ago was that awful fight with Miracle Queen and Hawkmoth.  A few weeks ago was when Master Fu had left and Ladybug had been named the next guardian.  Alya tapped her fingernail on her teeth as she put it together.  Poor Marinette had been dealing with the weight of Paris on her shoulders.  

Alya: I think I know what it is.  Marinette has a lot of responsibility here at school. She’s stressed.

Sabine Cheng: hm. You are probably right.  Any ideas of how to help?

Alya: lemme think. I’ll get back to u

Sabine Cheng: Thanks dear

Adrien’s voice pulled her from her phone, “Alya, have you noticed anything strange about Marinette recently?”

*

“Dude, are you going to share those macarons, or do I have to steal one from you?” Nino asked as soon as the bell for lunch rang.  The room buzzed with the noise of scraping chairs and a dozen conversations breaking out.   He and Adrien stood and started packing up their things.  “They’ve been taunting me all morning!”

“Oh, sure, of course!” Adrien held out one of the boxes to Nino who took four greedily and stuffed one, whole, in his mouth.  “Oh man, these are the best.  Marinette sure can bake!”

Adrien carefully stowed the box back in his bag, then looked at Marinette. She was talking to a very animated Alya. Just then she turned her head and looked back at him.  They made eye contact and Adrien couldn’t hold back his smile.  The thought crossed his mind again that she looked different today, somehow.  “Yeah,” Adrien said, turning back to Nino and heading for the door.  “She sure can bake.  Have you noticed anything different about Marinette, though?”

“Marinette? Different?” Nino questioned through a second mouthful of macarons.  

“When she brought me the macarons, she seemed different.  And Saturday… I mean, last week sometime she just seemed… I can’t quite figure it out.”

Nino chuckled.  “She’s not different, she’s just dating Luka and so she finally can talk to you without tripping all over herself.”

“What?” Adrien scoffed.

“Yeah, she’s been hung up on you for so long, dude, that she could never talk to you.  But now that she’s dating Luka, she’s moved on.”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh come on dude, it’s not like it was that big of a secret…”  Nino backpedaled.  

“Marinette was… hung up on… and no, she’s not dating Luka.”  Adrien’s brain was buzzing.  

Nino’s hands flapped with the realization of his blunder.  “I mean, it wasn’t like really hung up, it was like, just kind of a thing and she just didn’t want to and Alya told me not to say anybody likes anybody and…  Hang on. She’s not dating Luka?  Says who?”

“Says her,” Adrien replied simply.

“When did she tell you she wasn’t dating Luka?”  

A year of covering Chat Noir’s tail came in handy sometimes.  “I got sucked up in one of those carts on Saturday with Adventurer.  I heard her tell him that she just wanted to be friends.”

Nino raised an eyebrow.  The boys finished collecting their lunches and sat down.  Alya was texting someone and sat with them.  Adrien was still processing what Nino had said.  He was reminded of something Marinette had confessed to him—or rather, to Chat Noir—on Saturday.  Someone she had hoped would be someone.  Hung up on him.  Was Marinette…

“Dude, don’t read into things,” Nino said, as if he could see the wheels turning in Adrien’s brain.  “Marinette is the same old Marinette we’ve always known and loved.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said and took a slow bite.  “Still, Alya, have you noticed anything strange about Marinette recently?”

Alya’s head snapped up from her phone.  “Ma-Marinette?  Strange? Uh, uh… why would you think there was anything strange about Marinette?”

Nino and Adrien both noticed the over-the-top response.  Adrien smirked, “So, you have noticed something’s up.”

But Alya had been steeling herself for this moment all weekend, ever since Marinette had brought her the fox miraculous and placed all Ladybug’s cards in her shaky hands.  Alya knew then that her friendship with Marinette had changed into a fully-fledged partnership, and now it had to include protecting this crucial secret at all costs.  “Ok, you’re right,” she responded smoothly.  “Marinette’s super busy and I think she’s feeling the stress of it all. I mean, between being class representative, designing yet another album cover for Jagged Stone, upcoming finals, and submitting dress designs to two major fashion houses around Paris, I think she could just use some cheering up.  Or helping hands.”  The two boys just sat and gawked.   “She’s really got all that going on?” Adrien whispered, aghast.

Alya just laughed and rolled her eyes.  “Oh you two, she’s always had that much going on.  Sometimes more.”

“But surely she’d just say no if it got to be too much,” Nino countered.  

Alya laughed harder still.  “Marinette? Say no?  Don’t you know her at all?”

The three of them laughed again, but again the wheels whirred in Adrien’s head. Alya was right—Marinette never said no. Marinette never turned anyone away, or asked for help, or thought about herself.  It was just so second nature for her; he’d never thought it might be burdensome. But wasn’t he one of the masses placing their emotional burdens on her petit shoulders?  Wasn’t she the one he’d instinctively gone to after that horrific half-hour in the archery range?  “So, Alya, do you have a plan?”

*

Marinette’s feet thumped soundlessly along the familiar pavement, taking her home. Her bones ached—a deep, permanent, throbbing reminder that everything was on her shoulders now.  There was no one she could talk to, no one to share the load with.  She missed Master Fu; she missed racing to his home to ask for help; she missed knowing that there was backup in case she failed, that there was someone out there who always knew what to do.  Her fingers instinctively lifted to her earlobe and felt the tiny black earrings there. They felt heavier than ever.  She breathed in deeply and kept walking.  She had briefly felt comfort in Luka’s calm, listening ear.  But now that escape was lost to her forever.  She remembered the comfort of the underwater hug with Chat Noir and then again two days ago, without her mask, moments before Adventurer got akumatized. She was grateful she’d told Alya her identity and had someone to talk to about things now, but she knew that she’d have to be incredibly careful—Hawkmoth knew Alya was a miraculous holder, and would undoubtedly be watching her every move, just as he had Chloe’s.  

Oh, Chloe.  She’d only come to school a handful of times in the last few weeks, and even then, she’d been totally aloof.  And then there was Lila, who was just the opposite—way too close, way too loud, and way too devious.  But Marinette was having a hard time feeling the drive to help them, as she knew she should. She was having a hard time feeling much of anything besides overwhelmed.  

Her hand pushed the bakery door open with a tinkle and she slumped in, letting her backpack slide from her shoulders.  

“Surprise!” a chorus yelled, making her jump, shriek, and throw her books everywhere.  Her parents were flanked by Nino, Alya, Kagami, Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Ivan, Alix, Max, Kim, and Adrien.  She smiled at all of them, taking an extra second to gaze into those vivid green eyes.

“What are you all doing here?” she gasped.

“We came to help you out,” Adrien responded for the group.  

“Yeah,” Rose piped, “You are always helping us out, and your mom said you’ve been super busy, so here we are, ready to work!”

“You are all so sweet, but I really don’t have that much work to do—”

“Nice try,” Alix teased.  “I’ll bet you my skates that there’s eight unfinished dresses upstairs on your sewing machine.”

“I’ll take that bet—I say nine,” Kim boomed, “and I’ll throw in my favorite pair of swim trunks that there’s forty dozen macarons she’s making for charity.”

Marinette smiled as her friends thumped upstairs to her bedroom, but she hung back a bit.  Her mother slipped an arm around her waist.  “Sweetheart, they really do care about you.  They wanted to help.  Put them to work?”

“Mom, I really don’t have that much going on right now, I swear,” Marinette promised. At least nothing anyone can help with, she thought.  

“Well, then at least take some treats upstairs and have a game night or something,” Sabine insisted, pressing a tray of quiches into Marinette’s grasping hands. She sighed and followed her friends to the back of the bakery and up the stairs.

But after the first flight, she heard two familiar voices talking in hushed tones. “I fail to see how me being here helps anything,” Kagami was hissing.  “She clearly doesn’t need me here, and it’s hardly a productive way to spend an evening.”

“She’s a friend, and friends do nice things for each other,” Adrien responded. Marinette slowed her pace so she would stay just behind the wall where they couldn’t see her.  

“You said you wanted me to come so we could hang out.  You just wanted me to come to be a workhorse for some other girl,” Kagami retorted with an edge of frustration in her voice.

“No, no, that’s not it at all.  I wanted to see you because… well, I just wanted—”

“You know, Adrien, for being the one who keeps asking me out, you sure don’t seem to know what you want at all.  I’ve made it perfectly clear what I want.  Do you want to be with me or not?”

“Kagami, of course I want to—” Adrien started, and then he was silent. Marinette couldn’t help herself. She took a step forward, rounded the corner…

And wished she hadn’t.  Adrien stood one step lower than Kagami.  Her hand was wrapped around the back of his head, her lips pressed against his.  A girl was kissing Adrien, here in her house, and it wasn’t Marinette.  Even though she had practiced through tears and fought the raging beast inside her heart for weeks and reminded herself over and over again that Adrien loved Kagami, watching them kiss was torture.  Her knees wobbled, her stomach sunk, and her heart leaped from her chest.  She silently retreated around the corner, taking deep breaths and forcing the tears to stay put in her eyes.  After a second, she steeled herself against the pain, plastered a smile to her face, and rounded the corner again, much louder this time.  Adrien and Kagami separated with a little sucking noise.  Marinette ignored them and marched straight upstairs with her tray of quiches.  

She paused outside the trap door to her bedroom for several minutes, trying to lower her heartbeat.  Finally, when she felt like she could adequately feign a cheerful mood, she pushed the trap door open and climbed into the crowded bedroom.

“Hey, guys, my mom sent up these quiches, but I’m afraid tonight’s not a good one for hanging out,” she said in a much-too-high voice.  “It’s probably best that you all… head…” Her friends all stood there, with sad little furrows in their eyebrows, looking at her.  Her bones ached again.  “Out to the movies!” she finished with a generic thumbs-up.  There was a shuffle and startup of several conversations at once.  But just then, the dreaded buzz of the news alert on her phone pulled her to reality. Alya and Max also pulled out their phones—they’d set up the AkumaAlert app as well, it seemed.  

“Oh no,” Rose gasped, looking over Alya’s shoulder.  “Looks like some kind of foodie gone bad.  Oh my, he just turned that kid into a bowl of salad!”  

Marinette scanned around her room at the faces all checking their phones for updates.  She was just starting to panic on how she would get out of this one with all her friends right there, when she locked eyes with Alya.  “Oh, Marinette, your parents said that they needed you to watch the store front for a few minutes while they put together the rest of the food. We’ll figure out a movie and head when you get back, okay?”

Marinette thanked Alya with her eyes and ran downstairs and out the door to the alleyway.  She didn’t even notice that Kagami was a block away by now, with her head sagging.

*

“I’ll take that bet—I say nine,” Kim boomed, “and I’ll throw in my favorite pair of swim trunks that there’s forty dozen macarons she’s making for charity.”

Adrien laughed and sighed in relief as he saw the smile wash over Marinette’s face. He turned and followed the rest of his friends upstairs.  “This was a great idea,” he whispered to Alya.  

She shook her head with a little smirk, “Yeah, it was, Adrien. Don’t try to give me any credit.  You’re the one who said we should stage an intervention.”  

He shrugged.  At the landing for the next flight of stairs, he felt a hand on his wrist and stopped. Kagami’s head was low, her hair covering her eyes.  “Adrien, we need to talk,” she said heavily.  

Oh great.  NOW she wants to talk. She hadn’t answered his calls for days, and he’d been hesitant to invite her to this intervention tonight, before remembering that she and Marinette were friends—and tonight was about Marinette, not about his comfort level.  “Look, Kagami, I think you’re a really amazing girl…” Adrien stammered.

“Do you have feelings for Marinette?”

“Wh-What?”

“Do you have feelings for Marinette?”

“C’mon,” he scoffed, shaking his head a bit.  “She’s struggling right now.” “Why did you ask me to come tonight?  You know how my mother feels about these kinds of things.”

“I knew you were friends, and I thought you could help her.”

“I fail to see how me being here helps anything,” Kagami hissed, taking a step up so she was a head taller than him.  It felt uncomfortably familiar, like when his father sneered at him down his nose.  “She clearly doesn’t need me here, and it’s hardly a productive way to spend an evening.”

“She’s a friend, and friends do nice things for each other,” Adrien responded, raising his voice slightly.  

“You said you wanted me to come so we could hang out.  You just wanted me to come to be a workhorse for some other girl.” Kagami’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

“No, no, that’s not it at all.  I wanted to see you because… well, I just wanted—” he wasn’t sure where he was going with this.  All he knew was that he wanted out, away from this conversation.  

“You know, Adrien, for being the one who keeps asking me out, you sure don’t seem to know what you want at all.  I’ve made it perfectly clear what I want.  Do you want to be with me or not?”

“Kagami, of course I want to—”  Several things happened in rapid succession.  First, his phone buzzed, and Plagg tugged on the inside of his shirt—his sign that he really needed to take this call.  As he reached for his phone in his pocket, though, Kagami grabbed the back of his head and leaned in.  He was so surprised by the sudden motion that his brain stopped working.  She pressed her lips to his.  He noticed what her eyelashes looked like, what the color of her forehead was up close, even the scent of her hair.  The only thing he didn’t register was what it felt like to kiss her.  A small but persistent noise behind them startled him and he pulled back.  He turned just in time to see a tense-shouldered Marinette push past the two of them on the stairs with a fake, saccharine smile pasted to her face.  So, she’d seen that, had she?  His heart plummeted and he felt nauseous.  That was not how he planned on tonight going.  “Marinette!” He called softly, gently moving Kagami aside to follow the bouncing pigtails upstairs, but Kagami pressed a hand into his chest and glared.

“No, no you don’t, Adrien.”  Plagg tugged at the inside of his shirt more fervently now, and Adrien instinctively pulled out his phone.  

Lila had posted a picture of a romantic table for two on the front steps of a restaurant he didn’t recognize with the caption: Waiting for my bf—@ParisTeenWeekly superstar. #LuckiestGirlEver  The post had already gone viral, and by the looks of it, had drummed up quite the media presence.

“Lila…” he murmured under his breath.

“Lila?  First Marinette, now Lila?  How many girls are you stringing along, Adrien?” Kagami snapped.

“What? No, Kagami! You’ve got it all wrong! Lila asked me to dinner tonight—”

“A dinner with her, a date with me, an intervention here… you do know this is cruel, don’t you? I told you to pick a target.   Maybe I wasn’t clear.  Pick a target and then don’t switch.”  And in a move that was becoming increasingly familiar, she pushed past him, dropped her shoulders and head, and marched away.  

“Kagami,” he called, chasing after her.  “Please don’t do this again.  I don’t want to hurt you.  I never want to hurt a friend.”

She wheeled around on him.  “A friend? I kiss you and you call me a friend?”

“Isn’t that what a good relationship should be based on?  Friendship?”

She glared.  “We have so much—no, everything in common.  We are perfect for each other.  You will never find someone more compatible with you than me.”

So there it was.  Yet another girl who felt entitled to him, like he was some kind of prize.  “Kagami, I’m a heck of a lot more than just trophies and report cards,” he growled.  

She breathed deeply, clearly at a loss for words.  Her mouth moved up and down a bit before she spun on her heel and marched off again.  He didn’t follow her this time, but stood there in the doorway of the Dupain Bakery and watched as she shrunk into the distance.    

His phone buzzed again.  AkumaAlert, at the same little bistro Lila had posted about online.  Oh goodie, he groaned to himself.  Still, he looked forward to punching something.  “Plagg, Claws Out!”

*

Ladybug was nowhere to be found when he arrived on the scene.  “Adrien Agreste, I am Fooderator!  I’ll teach you to miss your dinner reservations!” the akuma was yelling.  He was shooting lasers out of his hands, which turned panicked Parisians into various bits of food.

“Hey Fooderator,” Chat Noir called, “hungry for this?” He extended his baton and spun it in a flash of metal, dissipating several blasts.  He used his baton as a shield while he scanned the area. It was worse than he feared from Lila’s post; it looked like half the paparazzi in Paris had come to glimpse Adrien Agreste with a girlfriend. It made his blood boil.  He charged Fooderator, landing several punches and a round-house kick.  Fooderator responded with a punch to his stomach and two more blows aimed for Chat Noir’s head, which he dodged easily.  

Just then the familiar zip of a yo-yo string made them both look up.  Chat Noir’s heart leapt to his throat.  She did a graceful backflip over his head, tucked into a swan dive, caught by her string at the last second, and dropped in a three-point landing.  “So, Chat Noir, what’s eating this guy?” she said, straightening up and walking toward him.  

He grinned.  How he loved it when she made puns with him.  They took a few steps back and yo-yo and baton alike whizzed as shields while they shared knowledge.  “I think he was looking forward to some major publicity.  Apparently some girl promised him that Adrien Agreste would come tonight—as her boyfriend.”

Ladybug’s eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth.  “Adrien Agreste was bringing his girlfriend here?”  

“No,” Chat Noir laughed, “the girl just made it out to look like that.” Chat was surprised at the way Ladybug’s face lit up when he said the word ‘no.’  

“Good,” she said, a smile teasing her lips.  “Though poor Fooderator; that would have been the moment of a lifetime, to have Adrien come to your restaurant.”  Oh man, Chat’s heart couldn’t stop leaping.  She was cracking jokes and saying his name, in one night.  “Any idea where the akuma might be?”

“Maybe his chef hat?” Chat Noir responded, noticing the tall black hat on Fooderator’s head.  They nodded once at each other, and then launched their attack.  Chat Noir raced to Fooderator head-on and Ladybug swung up and over his head before attacking from the rear.  They landed blow after blow.  They were making serious headway, and Chat started to think they might be able to get this one without needing their powers, when a bunch of flashes startled him from behind.  

“Chat Noir!” a sickly sweet voice called to him, “Smile for the camera!”  

“Lila!” Ladybug hissed, “This is not the right time!”  But the momentary distraction was enough for Fooderator to get the upper hand on Ladybug and fired a laser right at her.  

“No!” Chat yelled and threw himself in front of Ladybug.  The laser caught him in the stomach and he felt the energy drain from him.  Ladybug watched in horror as her dear partner transformed into a bowl of mussels, his baton still spinning in the air and transforming into a loaf of crusty bread, then falling with a little splash into the broth.

“You’ll pay for this,” Ladybug growled—not at Fooderator, but at Lila.  “Lucky Charm.��  It wasn’t a happy spin of her yo-yo; it was a warcry.  A pellet gun dropped in her hands, and with eyes still locked on Lila, she shot a round over her shoulder.  It caught the chef hat on Fooderator’s head and ripped it down the center.  The tiny akuma wriggled out.  Ladybug didn’t say a word, she just threw her yo-yo at it and released the white butterfly while marching straight at Lila, who was looking downright petrified. Ladybug growled “Miraculous Ladybug” and threw the pellet gun over her shoulder, not even caring to see the completion of the battle.  She thrust a finger in Lila’s face.  “How dare you distract my partner or me while we’re battling an akuma.  How dare you put all of Paris at greater risk.” If Ladybug was aware of the hundreds of cameras snapping pictures of this moment, she didn’t show it.  “We’re trying to protect millions of people, and you have the gall to take advantage of the moment for a selfie with Chat Noir? Don’t you know how important he is to Paris?  Without him, none of us would be here.  Don’t you know how important he is to me?”

Lila stammered, “I… I… just wanted to…”

“Just don’t, ok Lila?”  

A sick smile stole over her face. “I’m sorry, Ladybug, it’s just that I was so excited to see you both in action, I couldn’t help it.  You’re the best ever,” she sneered.

“Just think about it more carefully next time, alright?” Ladybug warned, trying to soften her face and hide the loathing.  Lila nodded and skipped off, giving the paparazzi a wink as she left.

Ladybug turned around to see Chat Noir and the dazed chef staring at her with slack jaws.  She tried to smile at them.  

“Whoa…” Chat sighed.  “That was… that was…”

“Chef!” she said to the poor akuma victim.  Her earrings beeped.  “I’m sorry you didn’t get your big moment in the spotlight.  I think the girl who said she was Adrien’s girlfriend was a bit confused.”  Her earrings beeped again.  “Chat, can you help him out tonight?”  Chat Noir nodded and they pounded fists.  “Bug out!” she cried before soaring off into the night.

The chef looked confused, but happy.  Chat Noir thought his heart might leap right out of his suit.  How important he is to me… And he fell again.  He couldn’t help it.  No matter how hard he tried to move past it, one small sentence, one small look, one tiny touch from her and he was right back to where he was the moment he met her. But it felt better this time—more like a partnership, more like a friend, more two-sided.  

“It’s too bad she couldn’t stay for dinner,” the chef murmured.  “I’ve got such a lovely meal prepared, since I was planning on feeding Adrien Agreste tonight.”

A sudden idea popped into Chat Noir’s head.  “Would you be willing to take in a stray cat instead?”

The chef’s face broke into a huge grin.  “Chat Noir?  Eating at my restaurant?  That’s even better than Adrien Agreste!”

“Great.  I’ve got something I need to do first, though, but I promise I’ll be right back, ok?”

The chef nodded, then raced back to his kitchen to make a few final arrangements.

*

Marinette made a show of stumping upstairs to her friends.  They were huddled around her room, eyes glued to their phones.  “Marinette!” Alya cried as she entered.  Everyone looked up.  “Did you see that akuma attack?”

“Yeah, crazy!” she responded.  

“I can’t believe Lila would distract Ladybug and Chat Noir like that,” Max said, with a shake of his head.

“Yeah, really not cool,” Ivan agreed.  

Marinette’s heart swelled to hear her friends recognize Lila’s manipulative and dangerous behavior.  Nino continued, “Yeah, good thing Ladybug was still able to capture the akuma.  She really is the greatest protector of all time.”

The achy bones returned full force.  

“Hey guys, if we want to make the evening show, we’d better go now,” Juleka said quietly.  Everyone looked up expectantly at Marinette, who sat gingerly on her bed.  How she hated always having to make the decisions.

“I’m kind of tired, and you guys can go without me,” she started.  Alya gave an I-told-you-so look to everyone in the room. “Come on, Marinette,” Mylene crooned, “let’s go have some fun.”  

But Marinette still couldn’t shake the feeling of weight on her shoulders.  She looked in the faces of her friends—grateful for each of them, but envious of their innocence.  None of them would truly understand, or could ever understand. There was only one person in all of Paris who knew just how heavy this life was, and he was nowhere to be—

There was a knock on the balcony skylight.  It made Rose squeak with surprise.  Everyone looked up at the ceiling.  Ivan was closest—he opened the latch and a pair of smiling green eyes, shrouded in a black mask, descended into the room, upside down.  “Hey guys, how’s it hanging?”

“Ch…ch… CHAT NOIR?”  Kim stammered.  “What are you doing here?”

He lowered himself into the room with one arm and landed softly on all fours. He smiled around at the gawking faces. “I got reservations at an amazing little bistro, and was wondering if I might steal my Purrincess away for an evening,” he said, strutting toward Marinette.  “If you’d like, of course.”  

She blushed as he took her hand and kissed it lightly.  “Oh you silly cat,” she said.  A brilliant peal of laughter escaped from her throat—something only he could elicit.  

Alya gave her a little shove.  “Go, Marinette, you deserve it.”

Marinette didn’t resist.  She gave Chat Noir her hand, but he took her waist.  Her friends watched in shock as Chat Noir walked to the skylight, lifted Marinette off her feet in a bridal-style carry, extended his baton, and launched the two of them into the fading evening sky.  

[purrincess-chat]

More Than Just a Friend CH6

I did it! It has been updated! Enjoy this angst/crack/fluff. You’re welcome.

Read on AO3

Chapter 6

Adrien fell backwards onto his bed with a sigh, arms spread out on either side of him. He’d really screwed up. Marinette would probably pick Luka over him after what he’d done, and he couldn’t really blame her. Maybe Luka did deserve her more; he certainly seemed more level-headed and knowledgeable about this stuff. Why was he so lame?

First Ladybug, now Marinette. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for love. Maybe he was just meant to be alone forever, locked in a giant house. Some boyfriend he’d make. He would probably arrange a date then his father wouldn’t let him go. At least Luka could actually show up.

His chest tightened at the thought, and the walls of his room seemed a bit narrower than usual, filling his stomach with a fluttery feeling of dread. His lungs felt tight, forcing him to take short, quick breaths until his head spun. He needed to get out for a while before this house suffocated him.

Once out on the rooftops, he took a deep breath, gripping his staff in one hand and letting the cool air brush his cheeks. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew he didn’t want to be there right now, so he began wandering the city aimlessly, barely paying attention to which direction he was headed, just letting his feet carry him where they pleased.

One thing he did have in his favor was that he was Chat Noir, but he couldn’t exactly tell her that. It would make life a lot easier though. Then he could steal her away from her balcony and take her on her own private tour of the city, but if Hawkmoth found out, it could put her in danger. Sometimes he hated keeping secrets, but he knew why they were important. He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to her because of him.

Speaking of Marinette…

“So, you’ve really made up your mind?” He picked up Alya’s voice below, ears standing upright as he skidded to a stop above them. She and Marinette were chatting over coffee by the looks of it.

“Yeah, after I kissed Luka, it all became clear to me,” Marinette said, and Chat felt his stomach flip.

He shouldn’t listen in. He couldn’t listen in. As he vaulted off, his heart began to crumble piece by piece, eyes burning, hands shaking. She picked Luka. He really had screwed everything up. After putting a considerable distance between them, he stopped on a roof, leaning against the wall and biting his lip hard to prevent tears from spilling over.

What was wrong with him? Everyone else found love so easily, but he had failed twice now. He glanced over at a billboard of his cologne ad and let out a bitter snort, his perfectly doctored face seeming to mock him. Lots of girls went crazy over that face, his face, yet he still always ended up alone. He had so many admirers yet no one to love. Maybe it was just his lot in life.

Many people told him how fortunate he was to have a famous father. To have wealth and fame, popularity and possessions, but he’d never felt lucky. Not all those years he spent trapped inside. Not when his mother disappeared. Not when his father constantly stood him up or when he was forced to eat dinner alone. Not now as he sat crying on a rooftop because his heart was torn in two.

No, Adrien Agreste wasn’t lucky. He was completely and utterly alone.

His staff beeped, startling him a little as he flicked up the screen. An akuma near Notre Dame. Near Marinette’s house. Great. Exactly what he needed. At least he knew that she was across town, so he doubted they’d run into each other. Better get it over with.

“Doesn’t Hawkmoth ever take a break? It’s a school night,” Ladybug groaned as Chat landed beside her, and upon seeing his less than sunny disposition, she cocked a brow. “You okay, kitty?”

“Not really, so let’s hurry up and take care of this,” he said, springing into action.

Chat was in no mood to crack jokes or come up with witty banter, and Ladybug shot him worried glances throughout the battle. When she finally tossed her lucky charm, he didn’t bother sticking around. Ring flashing, he vaulted himself across the city, paying no mind to which direction he was headed. He didn’t care. He just needed to be away, but as it turned out, not paying attention to where you were going when you were leaping through open intersections came at a cost.

“Ack!” A high-pitched yelp sounded as he crashed into another body swinging through the intersection at the same moment.

His vision blurred red as they toppled to the ground, rolling over each other until they landed in a tangled pile of limbs and yoyo string. He sat up with a groan, locking eyes with her as the last pad on his ring faded.

“Oh no,” they said in unison as their transformations dropped before their eyes, unable to untangle themselves until Ladybug’s yoyo disappeared, and they were both left staring blankly at each other.

And who else could his partner and first love be other than the one girl in the city he was hoping to avoid.

“You’re Ladybug? You’re Ladybug?” He repeated with increasing volume until Marinette clamped her hands over his mouth with a shush and pushed him up.

“Okay, okay, yes, I’m…” She glanced over at the animated movie promo and shrugged. “And you’re…Okay, this is not good.”

“Wow, I’m certainly happy it’s you too,” Adrien grunted, turning away with a scowl.

“No, no, no! That’s not what I meant!” She waved her hands frantically, crawling over on her knees to cup his face. “What I meant was this shouldn’t have happened. We aren’t supposed to know.”

“Too late for that now,” Adrien said sardonically, and Marinette covered her face with a moan.

“Okay, we need to talk about this, and…we also just need to talk,” she said, lowering her hands slowly to peek at him.

“Look, I already know you picked Luka. You can spare me the announcement,” he said, and when her eyebrows furrowed added, “I overheard you talking to Alya.”

“You eavesdropped?”

“Not on purpose! I was just out getting some air, clearing my head, and I heard you tell her that you picked Luka,” he explained, holding his arms out in a display of transparency. “I didn’t stick around after that. Trust me.”

“Adrien, you big, dumb, stupid, idiotic-” she punched his shoulders with each new adjective. “I didn’t pick Luka, you dummy.”

“But I heard you tell Alya that everything became clear as soon as you kissed Luka!”

“Yeah, became clear that I didn’t feel that way about him!” Adrien leaned back, eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“Wait, so you-”

“Picked you, you walnut!” She smushed his cheeks between her hands.

“Oh.” He said through fish-lips. “Well, this is embarrassing.”

“Adrien,” she sighed, sitting back and pinching the bridge of her nose with a laugh before punching him in the shoulder again.

“Ow!”

“That’s what you get for eavesdropping!”

“I’m sorry!” He dodged another punch. “Stop hitting me!”

Above them, thunder rumbled, and they glanced up as droplets began to fall. Marinette glanced around, spotting her umbrella a few feet away and crawling to retrieve it.

“Come on,” she opened it then offered him a hand. “We have a lot to discuss.”

Adrien accepted gently, twining their fingers as they walked which she allowed. Everything suddenly felt so surreal, his pulse quickened, his palms started to sweat, fingers tingling against hers. She’d really picked him. Him and not Luka. All of his worry and doubt seemed so silly now as she huddled closer to him as the rain picked up.

Marinette picked him.

Marinette was Ladybug.

The only two girls to ever steal his heart were actually one and the same, and she was holding his hand. They were probably going to makeout later.

“This is actually your umbrella,” she commented as they walked. “You gave it to me on your first day of school when it rained, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” he glanced up at the plain black umbrella.

“That was the moment I fell in love with you,” she said, and his heart lurched at the declaration. “There was this big clap of thunder, and all of a sudden, I just saw you. I’ve never been able to get my words right around you ever since.”

“Wait, so that’s why you always-”

“Yeah,” she pressed her lips together. “You must have thought I was crazy.”

“No,” he chuckled. “Just anxious and easy to set off.”

“Somehow that feels worse,” she said with a laugh, shaking her head. “All this time I wanted to be close to you, and all along you were always right beside me as the person I trusted most.”

“Well, am I everything you’d ever hoped?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“I could do without all the cat puns,” she said honestly.

“Me-ouch.”

“I’m home!” Marinette called as they entered through the back door. “Adrien and I got caught in the rain. Is it okay if he stays here until it lets up?”

“Of course, honey. You two go dry off. I’ll bring up some warm croissants,” Tom said with a smile.

“Thanks, Mr. Dupain,” Adrien nodded politely before Marinette dragged him up the stairs to the apartment.

“Sorry, we don’t have any Camembert, but will brie do?” Marinette offered Plagg a small plate with a wince.

“Oh, yes, this will do just fine,” he moaned, licking drool from his lips before digging in. She smiled down at him before pouring hot water from the kettle over their tea in cups.

“So, what exactly are our options here?” She asked, setting a cup in front of him.

“We could invent a time machine and go back and stop us from bumping into each other,” he suggested with a smirk, but her expression was anything but amused.

“We need to be careful. I think it’s best if we keep pretending like we don’t know when we’re fighting akumas. If Hawkmoth finds out we know our identities he’ll use it against us,” she said cupping her chin. “And we need to be open and honest with one another. We can’t get akumatized, so we need to lean on each other for support whenever we need it.”

“You can lean on my shoulder any time,” Adrien winked, and Marinette suppressed a giggle.

“Speaking of, we should confine our relationship to our civilian life. No kissing in costume. Ladybug and Chat Noir must remain professional partners,” she said giving him a stern look. “That also includes interactions between civilian and alter egos. No balcony visits.”

“But-”

“None,” she quirked a warning brow, and Adrien bit back a teasing grin that grew wider as the corners of her mouth twitched. “You stay off my balcony.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he curled his shoulders and sipped his tea, casting her sad kitten eyes before they both broke into a fit of giggles.

Adrien flicked his gaze down to her hand resting on the table, walking his fingers over until they brushed her palm. She turned her wrist to twine their fingers together, rubbing her thumb across his knuckle.

“So, I can be as affectionate as I want with Marinette, right?” He asked, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Of course,” her cheeks flushed a little.

“So, I can hold your hand in public?”

“Yes.”

“Hug you from behind?”

“If you want.”

“Stare adoringly at you in class?”

“Only if you promise to pay attention to the lesson.”

He mulled over her answers a moment then flicked his gaze back up to hers.

“Me being you-know-who doesn’t change your mind at all?” He asked, cocking a brow, and Marinette pressed her lips into a firm line.

“No,” she shook her head. “If anything, it strengthens it. I know I can trust you.”

He smiled at that, biting his lip a little.

“I am a little offended by one thing,” he said, and her eyebrows furrowed. “You kissed Luka.”

“Adrien,” she rolled her eyes, shoulders relaxing. “If we’re being technical, I kissed you first.”

“Yeah, but I don’t remember it, so it doesn’t count,” he smirked as she let out an exasperated sigh.

Thunder clapped outside as their gazes locked, and Adrien leaned in first. Marinette tilted her head, breath hitching as their lips brushed. Adrien laced his fingers through her hair, her breath hot on his lips, but before they could release the tension, Tom burst through the front door. They jolted apart, cheeks flushing as her father waltzed in.

“I brought up some- oh, am I interrupting?” He paused, a giddy grin creeping over his lips.

“Papa!” Marinette growled, cheeks as scarlet as her Ladybug suit.

“I’ll just leave these here; carry on,” Tom smirked, setting the tray down on the table and tiptoeing out, and Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose.

“So, based on what you remember, who’s a better kisser? Me or Luka?” Adrien asked, and Marinette shot him a glare.

“You really want me to judge based on the one time I awkwardly kissed you while dodging your cataclysm to break a spell put on you by an akuma?”

“Fair point. I need a do-over,” he leaned in again, puckering his lips, but Marinette stuffed a croissant in his mouth before he made contact.

“You can have your kiss if you take me on a date,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, and Adrien bit through the croissant, setting it aside as a smug grin pulled at his cheeks.

“Oh, you wanna go on a date with me?” He cocked a brow.

“Yeah, and you better impress me,” she shot back, jabbing his chest with her finger.

“Oh, I’ll impress you,” he said with a wink.

“Why do I have a bad feeling?”

“Just be careful what you wish for, m’lady,” he shrugged. “I’m young and irresponsible with a lot of money at my disposal and a lot of people willing to throw together anything I ask for at a moment’s notice.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

“I have a hot pie!” Tom announced, reentering the room with Sabine in tow. Marinette knew those faces well. Embarrassing parent mode had been activated. She needed to act fast.

“Why don’t we all have a slice and talk about our day?” Sabine suggested.

“The rain is letting up now actually, so Adrien was just leaving,” Marinette said, pulling him to his feet, but the traitor seemed to catch on and enabled smug boyfriend mode.

“I could go for some pie,” he said, flashing her a knowing grin.

“It’s getting late. What if the rain picks up again?” She countered, giving him a warning look.

“A little rain never hurt anyone,” he shrugged.

“You could get sick and then you wouldn’t be able to come to school, and you’d fall behind, and-”

“You could help me catch up.”

“Yeah, but you have so many extracurricular activities that syncing our schedules might be hard, so better not chance it,” she shoved him toward the door.

“I’m so lucky to have someone who cares about my health and well-being so much,” he sighed, pressing a hand over his heart. “I’ll definitely come over another time, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” she said, pushing against his rock-hard abs, but he dug his heels in stubbornly.

“See you tomorrow,” he leaned down to press a purposeful kiss to her cheek then tilted his chin up to whisper in her ear, “lovebug.”

Her cheeks burned red as she watched him smugly round the corner of the stairs, eyes locked until he disappeared. He was so dead, and she was so not keeping that nickname. Mangy cat.

[brathadair]

Moving On, A Miraculous Fanfic

Marinette arrived home, made it to her room and promptly collapsed onto her bed. She felt Tilki leave her purse and hover nervously around her, but was grateful her kwami didn’t speak- she needed some time to sort out her inner turmoil.

She’d just experienced possibly the worst humiliation in her life to date, namely that of dramatically confessing her feelings to Wax Adrien, who had turned out to be Real Adrien.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, but still imagined she could see the many pictures of Adrien staring down from her walls at her.

Of all the times for the beautiful idiot to develop a sense of humor! And then his casual mention of “the girl he loved”.... her insides felt like writhing snakes. She felt sick.

She suddenly wondered if this was what Chat felt like when she turned him down. No wonder he got so pouty.

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out all at once. If she kept up sulking she was going to attract an akuma. She sat up and looked around her room at the many pictures of Adrien, surrounded by hearts and swirls; she suddenly felt 100% done with it all.

She jumped up and began to systematically pluck every Adrien picture from the walls. She pulled down her schedule and erased every entry of his activities. With every picture removed and word erased she felt a little more free. The snakes in her belly began to calm.

Soon her picture frames were empty and her walls bare except for her pictures of her friends. She had a large pile of papers on her floor that she crammed into the bin, then sat back on her heals and wiped a bead of sweat from her eyes.

“Marinette?” Tikki, who had remained respectfully quiet until now, finally spoke.

“I’m alright Tikki. I’m just.... done.”

“So... you don’t love Adrien anymore? You’re giving up?”

Marinette thought for a moment.

“I think I’ll always love him. I can’t help it. But I can let it go. I’m just so tired, Tikki.”

She laid back on the floor, staring at her open trap door over head. “It’s all just too much to handle at once; being a hero, and class president, And managing the band, and school, being a decent friend, daughter.... having my own creative projects. And all this energy maintaining this fanatical crush, for what purpose?! I embarrass myself almost daily, even functioning around him in school is almost impossible! I can’t do it any more.”

Tikki nuzzled comfortingly at her cheek, and Marinette took a deep breath.

“I feel as if I had a certain quota of humiliation to fill in my life and I’ve used it all up prematurely.” She thought of something she’d seen online and let out a laugh “I’m officially out of fucks to give.”

“Does this mean you’ll give Luka a chance? Or Chat?”

“No.” Was her immediate answer. “I love Chat, and if he’d give pursuing my a rest maybe I could even fall for him but... I’m not risking my family and friends by sharing my identity. And I’m not going to date someone while having to hide behind a mask and spending all our time as civilians alone and pining. I’m just not.”

“And Luka?”

“Ugh, Luka is awesome. Smart, kind, talented, handsome, and definitely actually into me. If this world made any kind of sense I’d be in love with him. But I’m just not! And I like him too much to pretend otherwise; if we tried dating it’d be really unequal.”

“Oh Marinette, maybe it’ll be good just to concentrate on yourself for awhile. I’m really proud of how mature you’re being!”

“Really? Thanks Tikki.”

They shared a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Tikki spoke again.

“So.... now what do we do?”

Marinette felt her stomach grumble “First dinner, then homework, then patrol!”

When Marinette left for class the next morning she was weighed down with a large sack, but her chest felt much lighter.

When she’d finished a quiet patrol she’d remembered the chest in her room, and had had a momentary panic; she couldn’t just throw away all the gifts she’d made Adrien! She’d considered donating them but she’d spent so much time and love on them... she’d felt the embarrassment boiling in her stomach again and knew she’d have to get rid of them before moving on. She’d tossed and turned in bed for an hour before coming up with the solution and finally drifting off into a deep sleep.

Now she was hauling a heavy sack up the stairs to her school, her hard earned muscle making easier work of it than most of her classmates would have had. Inside the classroom most of her friends were grouped off in different sections, chatting before it was time to sit in their assigned seats.

Alya waved at her cheerfully, eyeing her Santa like sack in confusion.

“Woah Marinette, what’ve you got there?” Nino asked from next to his girlfriend. Adrien was looking curiously at her too, and though she felt a flutter in her tummy, she quickly squished it.

“I’ve brought gifts for everyone! I’ve been working on designs and side projects for months now, and thought I’d rather give them to my friends than sell or donate them.”

She heaved the bag onto her desk and began digging out items, the rest of the class beginning to gather around her curiously. Marinette carefully avoided Alya’s eyes as she began handing out the gifts; Alya knew who these had been made for, how painstakingly she’d worked over them.

There were gloves, hats, sweaters, scarves, a book bag, a hand crafted leather journal, a cross stitched altered pair of shoes, and more. She even gifted something to Lila- no way she was going to give the liar a sob story of being left out and Marinette had determined to kill her with kindness.

For her part, Lila seemed to understand the move Marinette made by including her, and gushed an appropriate amount over her gift in a way no one else seemed to catch the insincerity in.

The last item of the bag was a leather jacket, styled very similarly to Chat Noir’s outfit with carefully worked black leather. The inside was a sky blue that Marinette always associated with Adrien for some reason, like the bright sunny sky they’d had the day after he’d lent her his umbrella and she’d fallen in love with him.

It was the last item out of the bag, and she tossed her ponytails back in determination as she finally handed it to Adrien. Her hands barely shook.

Adrien accepted it with a relieved look, as if he’d begun to believe he wasn’t going to get a gift. Idiot.

“It should fit, but if I’ve gotten the size wrong give it back and I’ll do some alterations.” She addressed her other classmates as well “if anything doesn’t fit right come by after class and I’ll take some measurements and fix it.”

Everyone was trying on their various garments and bags, shoving pencils into new cases and using their phones to take selfies. There was a murmur of ascent and a large amount of ooohing an aaahing and heartfelt ‘thank you’s from her friends. Marinette smiled, and felt a bit more of her anxiety melt away. This was good. This was letting go and making her friends happy.

Alya touched her arm gently, and tilted her chin towards Adrien when Marinette looked at her. Adrien was very still as he held the leather jacket in his hands, eyes tracing over the immaculate details.

Marinette was particularly proud of it; leather was extremely hard to work with. She’d spent a lot of time, and not a small amount of her personal savings on materials. It occurred to her that Adrien, having worked in the fashion industry his whole life, could not be blind to these facts.

“Marinette, I can’t accept this. This has got to be worth hundreds of dollars!”

It was, and there was no point denying it.

“It’s yours. I made it for you.” Well, she’d made everything for him, but she left that part unspoken. The jacket had been the crowning jewel of the collection.

“I.... at least let me pay for it!” He actually began to dig in his bag like he was going to pull out a wallet, and Marinette wanted to punch him and kiss him at the same time.

“No!” She practically shouted, and he stopped rifling through his bag. “That’s not the point of gifts.”

The bell rang and Marinette was grateful to sink into her seat as their teacher called the class to attention. She mostly kept her cool, and even with the outburst at the end she didn’t feel embarrassed. Her humiliation well truly had run dry it seemed.